'Scared to death': Dozens of school bus drivers have died of COVID, bringing shortages

GRIFFIN, Ga. – Natalia D’Angelo got sick right after school started in August.

She was driving a school bus for special education students in Griffin-Spalding County School System about 40 miles south of Atlanta and contracted COVID-19.

One of her three sons, Julian Rodriguez-D’Angelo, said his mother, who was not vaccinated against the coronavirus, had a history of health problems, including Graves’ disease and cancer. She was pretty certain she got COVID-19 from her work duties, he said: D’Angelo’s assistant on the same bus also had the virus, and his mother said some kids on the bus did not wear masks, even though it is required.

The virus spread through the whole family, including her husband, Americo Rodriguez, who came with her to the U.S. from Uruguay 20 years ago. But D’Angelo’s illness grew worse, and she was hospitalized at a Griffin hospital in mid-August. On Aug. 28, she died. She was 43.