Waxpool Elementary principal Michael Pellegrino is on the mend. That’s the good news from the Ashburn educator who was one of the first local coronavirus patients to be publicly identified — a decision he made to keep his school community better informed.
InsideNova.com, a partner publication to The Burn, got the first interview with Pellegrino since his diagnosis and talked with him about the roller coaster of the last few weeks.
“That really stops you in your tracks a little bit,” Pellegrino told InsideNova. “I was walking around and had it and didn’t know it.”
Pellegrino suffered through a cough and low-grade fever and even experienced the temporary loss of taste and smell that has become a hallmark symptom of the coronavirus.
He’s one of a reported 10 Loudoun County Public Schools employees who are known to have contracted the virus. One of them — a Loudoun County teacher named Susan Rokus — was the first fatality due to the virus in the county. As of Thursday morning, there were 105 coronavirus cases reported in Loudoun.
“I was walking around relatively symptom-less for a while,” Pellegrino said. “I would assume that everybody has it.”
For more about what Principal Pellegrino has experienced battling the coronavirus and how he feels bad for his students that got “gypped” on losing part of their school year, you can read the full InsideNova story here.
May I suggest that the author not use the word “gypped” when referring to the shortened school year? Something like “shortchanged” would be more professional and appropriate.
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