Young people aged 10 to 19 are the peak infection group in the island’s latest surge in coronavirus numbers, government figures have revealed.

But the average age of people who tested positive for the coronavirus is 30.

Kim Wilson, the health minister, said that young children, including nursery school pupils, accounted for one third of the island’s fourth wave of cases this autumn.

She added that it was “no secret” that the majority of cases seen in the newest surge came from “quite a number of outbreaks in the school system”.

But children aged under 10 made up a small proportion of the latest cases.

Ms Wilson warned that it was “still early days” and that it could not be judged if young people would be a significant driver in the latest wave, where Omicron has taken over from Delta as the dominant variant.