Thirty-six new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the province since Friday, with a total of 58 cases linked to the cluster in the Marystown area.

The outbreak has forced classes at Sacred Heart Academy in Marystown, and Donald C Jamieson Academy in Burin to move online, while the Marystown region is now under Alert Level 3.

While a difficult situation, Marystown Mayor Brian Keating is offering his thanks to Eastern Health and to the residents of Marystown and surrounding area in responding to the outbreak.

He says some 1600 people have been swabbed since Wednesday.

Thirty-five cases of the cases reported today are in the Eastern Health region with one in Central Health.

Twenty-three of the new confirmed cases are people under the age of 20.

There are 90 active cases of the virus in the province, with one person in hospital.