In this file photo, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos attends the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board Meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on June 26, 2020. DeVos encourages parents to send their kids back to school, warning of students falling behind academically without directly addressing the health risks posed by the coronavirus. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS)
In this file photo, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos attends the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board Meeting at the White House in Washington, DC on June 26, 2020. DeVos encourages parents to send their kids back to school, warning of students falling behind academically without directly addressing the health risks posed by the coronavirus. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS) Credit: Yuri Gripas

CONCORD — A Bedford, N.H., public school canceled a scheduled visit Friday by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos after a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus, a spokesperson for the New Hampshire Department of Education said.

“They had informed us this morning that they had a positive test and obviously wanted to cancel the visit” at McKelvie Intermediate School in Bedford, spokesperson Grant Bosse said.

DeVos did go on to visit Riddle Brook Elementary School in Bedford, he said.

The decision regarding McKelvie was made by school officials in Bedford, he said.

“We defer to local officials on how to run their schools,” he said. “Not being in the middle of the school while they were doing contact tracing and other things like that just made sense.”

The schools were chosen because of how they notified families about earlier cases of the virus, according to a school board meeting this week.

The U.S. Department of Education confirmed that the visit to the one school was canceled Friday “out of an abundance of caution” and that the school was executing its coronavirus response plan.

Nashua, N.H., closes City Hall after COVID-19 cases

NASHUA, N.H. — Two new positive COVID-19 cases have been identified at Nashua City Hall, bringing the total among staff to six and news that City Hall will close for two weeks, officials said.

City Hall will be closed starting Monday through Oct. 5. Essential services, such as motor vehicle, city clerk, and tax office transactions, will remain available via phone, email and drop box, the city said.

Last week, Mayor Jim Donchess said he had tested positive for the coronavirus. He said he hadn’t been feeling very sick.

Nashua was one of the first communities in the state to enact a face mask ordinance.

Twin State virus numbers

As of Friday, 7,861 people had tested positive for the virus in New Hampshire, an increase of 48 from the previous day. The number of deaths remained at 438.

The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in New Hampshire increased over the past two weeks from 22 new cases per day on Sept. 3 to 34 new cases per day on Sept. 17.

On Friday, the Vermont Health Department reported two new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to more than 1,700.

The number of deaths remains at 58.