HALIFAX — The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says he's puzzled by last week's decision to reopen schools in the Halifax area considering five have since had to close because of COVID-19 cases.

In an interview Thursday, Paul Wozney said the closures have disrupted high school students in particular, after single cases of novel coronavirus forced the closures of Halifax West High School and Citadel High School.

"It was a head scratcher," Wozney said of the school reopening June 3 when limited community spread was still identified in the Halifax area. "Our real concern was, 'Are we exposing schools to risk?' "

Health officials reporting 15 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. They then added a late-reported case, which was connected to Citadel High School, the second case reported there in two days.

Schools were opened across the province last week as part of the first phase of the government's five-step reopening plan. Premier Iain Rankin had initially said last month that schools would remain closed for the rest of the year, but less than two weeks later, on May 31, he announced the reopening.

The province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang, said on Monday that he "fully expected" new cases in schools because there is still virus activity in the Halifax area. But Strang said the benefits of a return to in-person learning for students far outweighed the "low risk"  based on current infection rates.

"I'm puzzled a bit by people saying it's just a month," Strang said. "We wouldn't throw away a month of school if it was February or November. There is still a lot of learning that can happen in June."

However, the last day of in-class instruction for high school students in Halifax is Friday, meaning they returned to class for just over a week. The upcoming exam period is still scheduled to be in-person.

"I think the question is, was it necessary to return students to in-person learning to end the year well for high school students, and the answer is no," said Wozney.

The union head also pointed out that it's often forgotten that a single case of COVID-19 in a school setting affects more people than just the person infected. "It can be dozens of other students and staff ... who are impacted when there is a positive case in school."

He said it's also hard to get a handle on how many people are eventually quarantined, because education and health officials typically don't disclose the information, citing health privacy concerns. Department of Education officials did not directly address questions Thursday about the number of people currently in isolation and any potential change of plans for schools in the immediate future.

"We have always maintained that the best place for students is in school," Jasmine Flemming, a department spokeswoman, said in an email. "The decisions as to which (plan) model is appropriate at various times is made in consultation with Public Health and balances safety with the learning and well-being ... of students."

Since June 3, health officials have closed schools for cleaning after single virus cases were identified in each instance. The schools include Graham Creighton Junior High and the Bedford and Forsyth Education Centres campus in Dartmouth, as well as Fairview Junior High School and Halifax West and Citadel high schools in Halifax.

The three Halifax schools are currently closed while the two in Dartmouth have reopened.

Health officials identified 12 cases of novel coronavirus in the Halifax area on Thursday and three in the province's eastern zone, which includes Cape Breton. There are 147 known active cases with 10 people in hospital, including six in intensive care.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2021.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press