N.L. reports 36 new COVID-19 cases since Friday, with all but 1 in Eastern Health region

Newfoundland and Labrador on Monday is reporting 36 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, 35 of which are in the Eastern Health region.

The updatecomes amid a growing outbreak connected to schools on the Burin Peninsula.

That cluster, centred on Marystown, now has58 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The identified cases are in isolation and Eastern Health is conducting contact tracing, according to a Department of Health media release. The source of the cluster is under investigation, the department said.

Marystown Mayor Brian Keatingtold CBC News he was informed by Eastern Health that 14 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in his community Saturday.

The new Eastern Health region cases areby age:

• Twenty-three under 20 years old.
• Four between 20 and 39 years old.
• One person in their 40s.
• Three people in their 50s.
• Two people in their 60s.
• Two people 70 years old or older.

Twelve of the cases announced Monday are contacts of previouscases, one case is related to travel within Canada and 22 are under investigation.

"I think one of the challenges is a lot of them are in that very young age group, cohorting isn't easy and mask-wearing hasn't been mandatory," Health Minister John Haggie told reporters after question period at the House of Assembly on Monday.

"It's really an unvaccinated populationbut they don't as of yet have a vaccine available for them."

Haggie said people should expect periodic outbreaks among young people until there's an approved vaccine rollout for children under 12.

"That's in planning, that's on the horizon, but obviously we can't pull the trigger on that until Health Canada approves the vaccine," he said.

The othercase announced Mondayis a woman between 20 and 39 years old in the Central Health region. The case is a contact of a previous case.

The province also reportedeight new recoveries.One is in the Eastern Health region, five in the Central Health region and two in the Western Health region.

There is one person in hospital due toCOVID-19 the fewest hospitalizations since Sept. 23 and the provincenow has 90 active cases.

Investigations into clusters in central Newfoundland are continuing, according to the department.To date, there are 91 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Baie Verte cluster, 66 confirmed cases inthe Twillingate-New World Island cluster and 56 confirmed cases in the Bishop's Falls-Botwood cluster.

Any identified cases are in isolation and Central Health is conducting contact tracing, said the Department of Health, and the sources of the clusters are under investigation.

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