More than 40 new cases of the coronavirus have been logged – and pushed the number of active cases to in excess of 100, it was revealed last night.

A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said the 41 infections were identified among 2,003 test results that came back to health officials today.

David Burt, the Premier, told the House of Assembly last night: “This was a single day record for the number of cases of Covid-19.”

He added: “We have the news there is a new outbreak and it is an incredibly stressful and difficult situation.

“But we are ahead on where we were with the last outbreak on the issue of taking proactive action. We’re hopeful that this periodwill be far shorter than the one we had in November that went on into December.”

Kim Wilson, the health minister, said earlier several people had gone to work or sent their children to school with Covid-19 symptoms because they assumed it was allergies or the flu.

She admitted: “This has contributed to our most recent spread.

Ms Wilson said “school bubbles, for the most part, have worked well”.

But she added: “However, the extracurricular activities have undermined the bubbles and demonstrably contributed to the spread.

The spike pushed the number of active infections to 106, with one in hospital, but not in critical care.

A total of 30 of the new cases were classed as on-island transmissions with known contacts.

Another nine were listed as under investigation because they have no recent travel history or links to identified cases.

It is understood the current spike has been caused by the prevalence of a UK variant of the virus which is more contagious, particularly among children.

In the past week a host of schools have reported outbreaks of potential exposure to the virus, with many pupils being ordered to quarantine.

The average age of cases at the end of February was 41.

That has now dropped down to 31 - a sign that infections have increased among younger people.

Ms Wilson said: “The disease is spreading among a noticeably younger cohort.”

Two of yesterday’s new cases came in from overseas – a returned resident on the Delta flight from New York on March 15 and a non-resident who arrived on the JetBlue flight from NYC on March 12.

Ms Wilson said: "As a result of the increase in positive cases, the Government has had to roll back our restrictions to reduce the spread of the highly contagious UK variant.

“We must be extra vigilant, resist the urge to attend any social gatherings and do everything we can to protect ourselves and others from catching the virus.

“We need everyone's co-operation to get Bermuda past this pandemic."

She warned the public: "If you have flu-like symptoms or a bad cold, stay at home, speak to your doctor and get tested.

“Do not have your kids in extracurricular activities outside their school bubble.

“If you have been told to quarantine, you must stay home.

“If you are contacted by our contract tracers, it is important that you are truthful and forthcoming with the requested information."

Ms Wilson said: "The combination of getting vaccinated and following the Ministry of Health's guidelines on how best to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from Covid-19, and help us slow the transmission.“

Ayoola Oyinloye, the Chief Medical Officer, said the health ministry’s epidemiology and surveillance unit would contact people if they were identified as at risk of exposure or if they had to quarantine.

He added that households with more than one child, if an infected one could be quarantined away from the others and the parent or parents, the other children could attend school and parents could go to work.

Dr Oyinloye told the public: “ If you are not able to keep the household members apart, then both siblings should quarantine, and the parents should not attend work.”

He added: "Please note that just because persons have been quarantined, this doesn't mean they are carrying the virus.

“The person may have had a potential exposure to someone who is confirmed as having tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19 disease.

“They may or may not go on to test positive themselves. This is a very important distinction."

Members of the public can find guidance on how and when to quarantine at www.gov.bm/coronavirus