Meeting audio drops when removing Airpod from charger

[DF5]

I use Airpods  (standard, not pro) on Windows 10 in meetings with Zoom for Government. No problems pairing and establishing audio through the Airpods for a meeting. When Airpod battery starts to run low, I put one Airpod in the charger and continue the meeting using the other. However, when I remove the Airpod from the charger (with the other still in my ear) the meeting audio drops immediately, every time. On normal phone calls or Skype meetings or MS Teams meetings I can continue charging one Airpod and using the other, switching every 15 minutes or so, indefinitely. Is this a known problem (I didn't see any reports), is there a work-around, and is there a real fix in work?