HALIFAX -- Two schools in New Brunswick have closed Thursday after reporting cases of COVID-19.

In an email sent to students and their families on Wednesday evening, Moncton’s Edith Cavell School confirmed the second positive COVID-19 case related to the school this week.

Both the elementary school and the Therapeutic Education Support Site located at the school are closed on Thursday, and students will be learning from home for the rest of the week.

New Brunswick public health is currently contact tracing and says anyone who has been in close contact with the case will be contacted.

It is the second case of COVID-19 linked to Edith Cavell School. The school, located on Moncton’s Park Street, was also closed for the day on Wednesday after a case was identified Tuesday.

The other new case identified Thursday is connected to Kennebecasis Valley High School, located in Quispamsis.

"Today's news is worrisome to everyone," said Quispamsis Mayor Gary Clark. "Most Quispamsis residents are connected to the school one way or another through staff or parents.You know, I'm certainly concerned as a parent, but we have to trust the doctor."

The Anglophone South School District announced the school closure in a tweet sent at 7:40 a.m. Thursday.

A spokesperson for the N.B. Department of Education confirms to CTV Atlantic that a positive case of COVID-19 related to the school was identified Thursday morning.

Students and staff will stay home on Thursday while contact tracing is carried out.

Details such as names of those infected or exposed will not be released to protect the privacy of students and staff.

There have been several cases of COVID-19 confirmed in New Brunswick schools this week.

  • One positive case was confirmed Wednesday at Polyvalente-A.-M. Sormany High School in Edmundston.
  • One positive case was confirmed Tuesday at Cité Des Jeunes A.-M.-Sormany, a French high school in Edmundston.
  • One positive case was confirmed Tuesday at New Maryland Elementary School in the Fredericton region.
  • Three positive cases were confirmed Saturday at Woodstock High School.
  • One positive case was confirmed Saturday at Townsview School in Woodstock.
  • One positive case was confirmed Saturday at Académie Notre-Dame in Dalhousie.
  • One positive case was confirmed Saturday at Polyvalente Roland-Pépin in Campbellton.

Altogether, there are 12 confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick schools.

"The system is continuing to stand up the way we hoped it would," said New Brunswick Education Minister Dominic Cardy."Which is, we're seeing one or two cases in schools and the virus is being pushed back out even as we're seeing case numbers increase in the province."

With COVID-19 numbers surging, Cardy said closing schools altogether would do more harm than good.

"It's not that those kids suddenly disappear," he said. "Suddenly, you have parents saying 'where do my kids go?' So they're suddenly breaking their routine at a time when we're asking people to restrict their routine, suddenly they have to do more and do things differently."

Cardy says that plan would change if community spread was detected, or if COVID-19 numbers continued to climb.