TWO coronavirus cases have been confirmed by schools in Dovercourt, just days before the Government announced schools in England will be closed from today.

A school has confirmed a pupil has coronavirus, just days before the Government announced schools in England will be closed from today.

Chase Lane Primary School, in Dovercourt, told parents a student has the potentially deadly virus earlier this week.

The school initially said it had no plans to close, but the Government has now closed schools in England until further notice for all pupils except children of key workers and the most vulnerable.

A statement from Chase Lane Primary School said:”We know that this will be worrying news, but want to reassure parents that we are working with Essex Local Authority to take necessary action to ensure the welfare of our pupils, staff and their families.

“The pupil was absent from school during the latter half of last week and the classroom, as with all classrooms has been thoroughly cleaned.

“The risk of contamination is very low.”

It added: “We will update parents immediately if we are advised to close the school by the Local Authority or the Department for Education.”

Julie O’Mara, headteacher, said the school receives daily alerts from the Department for Education.

She said: “The advice we have been given is to thoroughly clean our hands.”

Nicky Patrick, headteacher of Spring Meadow Primary School, in Dovercourt, said a family member of one of the pupils has also been confirmed as having coronavirus in a letter to parents earlier this week.

The letter said: “We know that this will be worrying news, but want to reassure parents that we are working with Public Health England to take necessary action to ensure the welfare of our pupils, staff and their families.

“The child at Spring Meadow has not been confirmed as having coronavirus and is showing no symptoms, but acting on Public England advice the whole family will be self-isolating as a precaution.”

Following the news of the closures the school issued a statement saying it will close at 3.15pm.

“We will share further updates with you as soon as they become available,” it added.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told MPs: “The spike of the virus is increasing at a faster pace than anticipated and it is crucial that we continue to consider the right measures to arrest this increase and to relieve the pressure on the health system.”

“The public health benefits of schools remaining open as normal are shifting.”

“It is also clear that schools are increasingly finding it more difficult to continue as normal as illness and self-isolation impacts on staffing levels and pupil attendance.”

Kate Finch, Harwich and Dovercourt High School’s headteacher, said: “Although we have been anticipating such an announcement, and prepared for various scenarios, the limited details so far released raise considerably more questions than answers.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson also announced school exams will “not take place as planned in May and June”.