At least 26 teachers in England and Wales have died from coronavirus in the space of just six weeks, new data shows.
The total does not include those who are 65 and over and so could be higher.
But between 9 March and 20 April, a minimum of 65 staff working in the education sector died after contracting the virus - more than two dozen of whom were nursery, primary, secondary, or special school teachers, according to figures published yesterday by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
This equates to an average of four teachers dying with coronavirus each week. However the data does not specify when each death was recorded - so the true weekly total is not known.
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Other educational staff who have died with the virus include 10 teaching assistants and two school secretaries.
The figures come from an analysis of all deaths involving Covid-19 for men and women aged 20 to 64 in England and Wales, from Monday 9 March, up to and including Monday 20 April.
However the ONS has stressed that these figures are based on provisional data, so findings could change as more deaths are registered.