COVID-19 case confirmed at 3rd N.B. school

A Dalhousie elementary school is reporting a confirmed case of COVID-19, making it the third case in a New Brunswick school in recent days.

L.E. Reinsborough School reported the case in a Facebook post Sunday morning.

The school said it is working with Public Health officials to identify any students or staff who may have come into close contact with the individual.

The news follows the Saturday announcement of a case at Académie Notre-Dame, another elementary school in Dalhousie. It remains open under strict guidance from Public Health.

Dalhousie Mayor Normand Pelletier said residents of his community are "extremely concerned and scared."

"It just shows us how easy this virus spreads and every parent and every individual has to take precautionary measures," he said.

The first case in a New Brunswick school was confirmed on Thursday at Sugarloaf High School in Campbellton. That school will be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a prior decision to help students adapt to online learning. 

Education Minister Dominic Cardy announced stricter guidance for schools in the Campbellton and Moncton regions, which have moved back to the orange recovery phase. Mask use will now be required — both indoors and outdoors — for all students in grades K-12 at schools in Campbellton and Moncton health regions.

Exceptions will be made for physical education, and while students are eating or working alone quietly at their desk. Those with medical reasons will also be exempt.

All school sports and extracurricular activities are now cancelled.

Pelletier said he is confident in the response from Public Health to limit the outbreak. But he said it's "certainly not a good feeling" to have to go back to the orange phase for a second time.

"You don't see it and don't hear it and then all of a sudden, boom, there it is."