13-year-old Mississippi honor student dies of COVID the day after she was diagnosed

A Mississippi teen was pronounced dead Saturday after catching COVID-19 and lasting for just a day.

A WATP report Monday described middle school student Mkayla Robinson as "loved by all of her teachers."

"She was an honor student, a band student. Everybody says if they had 30 kids in the classroom like her, they have the perfect classroom," said Smith County Schools Superintendent Nick Hillman.

"For most children, it's just a case of the sniffles," Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) said on Friday, downplaying the seriousness of the virus' impact on children. It was also the day that the teen tested positive for COVID. Within 24 hours of Reeves' remarks, Robinson had died.

The silver lining, if there can be one, is that parents in the school district are now demanding more protections for children in school.

"It's really scary. And for my daughter and my kids to tell me. Get up this morning And say they didn't want to go to school you know it's scary," parent Sharon Moore told WATP.

"Somebody was sitting beside my kid with COVID, and I'm on my way to school right now to pick up my son. He's 11 years old. To bring him home to quarantine," parent Jerome Black said.

CNN.com reported that she is the fifth COVID-19 pediatric death in the state.

"Cases in Mississippi have risen more than 40% in the past seven days compared to the prior seven-day period, according to data from Johns Hopkins University," said CNN.com. "The number of Covid-19-related deaths is up more than 75% in the same time frame. Just 23% of Smith County residents are fully vaccinated, according to the state's Covid-19 dashboard."