ST. LOUIS — "I just could not believe it. We were all doing so well with wearing our masks, social distancing and washing our hands," said Sheila Robinson.
The St. Louis mom said she recently got a phone call that sent her heart and mind racing.
"She called me back Sunday and said my child got exposed by another student," said Robinson.
She said her 16-year-old daughter's teacher, at Roosevelt High School in south St. Louis, told her that last Wednesday her 11th grader was exposed to a student who had tested positive for COVID-19.
Robinson said within a few days, she and her five children all had COVID.
Her sick children range from 11 to 17 years old.
"We're all experiencing all of the COVID symptoms," she said. "The loss of taste, the loss of smell, coughing, wheezing, chest pains, body aches. It's stressful."
Especially "stressful" for her 17-year-old son, who has a thyroid condition.
"He told me his body was hurting. He was so weak, he couldn't breathe and he could barely walk at times," Robinson told 5 On Your Side's Robert Townsend on Tuesday.
Her only good news: her two-week-old baby boy and her four-year-old son are both COVID-free.
"Yeah, I'm so grateful for my baby. I recently brought him home from the hospital and he's so tiny. Thank God he's not showing any signs of COVID," Robinson said.
She and her children are now quarantining in the family's three-story home.
"It's hard emotionally and physically. I mean it's kind of hard to put on a mask in the house, but we have to do it to keep germs down," Robinson said.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Spokesman for St. Louis Public Schools George Sells said they do not have a COVID-19 outbreak at Roosevelt High School.
Sells says the school does have "some positive cases."
He said "that number is too low to share without potentially identifying students due to a high positivity rate in the community. We wouldn't be able to identify any particular student case, but of course, pursuant to CDC and Department of Health guidance, unvaccinated siblings would have to stay home and quarantine if they have one or more siblings who are COVID positive."
Sells also stated, "we have not determined that any particular case is due to a school-related transmission, but will continue to closely monitor all cases, and continue to quarantine any unvaccinated student who has close contact with a COVID-positive individual."
"I just know that my daughter's teacher told me that my child came in contact with a student who was sick with COVID," said Sheila Robinson. "I think the school district needs to offer virtual learning again."
The worried mom prays she and her kids all recover.
"After this, I think I want my kids, who can, to get vaccinated because this is really scary. I thank God that we did not have to go to the hospital. We now just go to get through it, one day at a time," said Robinson.
Robinson cannot get her second COVID vaccine until after she and her children complete a mandatory, 10-day quarantine. She's a childcare specialist and is unable to return to work right now due to her battle with the virus.
A spokesman for SLPS said as of Aug. 26, 27 elementary students, nine middle school students and nine high school students in the district have tested positive for COVID-19.
Currently, 33 high school students in the school district are in quarantine. The school district has a total of about 20,000 students.
SLPS provides COVID-19 information on its website. Click here for more information.