The Decatur community is remembering a high school senior who died from COVID-19.
Health officials said high school senior Giovanni Pena, 18, died Thursday from a COVID-19 related illness.
“It’s heartbreaking and we are of course sadden that this happened and that this happened in our community," Van Buren, Cass District Health officer Danielle Persky said. "This is really the first student this year in the state that’s been impacted by COVID-19 in this way.”
- Health Officials: Van Buren County student dies from COVID-19
Pena was the 234th person to die from COVID-19 in Van Buren and Cass counties.
The health department reported 192 COVID-19 cases among children under 19 across the two counties since the start of the school year.
Giovanni’s family said it will be celebrating the teen's life Oct. 1 with a memorial service and funeral.
Decatur Public Schools said counselors were on hand to help students and staff grieving during this time.
Superintendent Patrick Creagan released a statement saying, “The Decatur community grieves with the family of the student and we send our prayers for the student and the family. No one should ever had to deal with the death of their child.”
He also said he hoped people could put their differences aside regarding mask mandates.
"I ask all communities to unite, put aside their difference regarding such issues of wearing face coverings and once again become the great people of Michigan," Creagen said.
Persky said the unfortunate death has the health department wanting to take more action to protect students, but she said their hands are tied.
“It’s enough for us in local public health to feel like we’re ready to do any kind of mask orders or mandates," Persky said. "Unfortunately though, what’s happening with the legislature and the budget bill, is tying our hands behind our back and we’re struggling with what we can do in this moment in time.”
The Michigan Legislature is threatening to pull funding from health department who have mask mandates in place.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office said that would not be enforceable.
Follow Trisha McCauley on Facebook and Twitter. Send story ideas to tamccauley@sbgtv.com.