Postcodes along Newcastle's western fringe and in Cessnock have the highest numbers of coronavirus cases in the Lower Hunter, according to NSW government data.
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Hunter New England Health reported seven new cases up to 8pm on Thursday, taking the district's total to 241.
It was the lowest number of confirmed new cases in 13 days.
Cessnock postcode has the most confirmed infections in the Lower Hunter with 20, followed by the sprawling 2287 postcode from Wallsend to Minmi with 16.
The 2283 postcode covering Lake Macquarie's western suburbs has 10 cases.
Charlestown to Redhead (2290) has six, and Belmont (2280) has eight.
The health department figures, last updated on April 1, show Newcastle's inner ring of suburbs is relatively free of residents with the virus.
The 2291 postcode, which includes Merewether and The Junction, has just two cases, along with Broadmeadow, Lambton and Jesmond, Mayfield and Adamstown.
Newcastle West, Wickham, Maryville, Tighes Hill and Stockton are among the suburbs free of virus infections.
Windale (1) and Warners Bay (2) are also reporting low levels of infections.
The Maitland local government area has 27 cases spread evenly over its four postcodes.
The Nelson Bay postcode of 2315, which includes Shoal Bay and Fingal Bay, has 11 positive tests.
The NSW Health data shows the huge impact of cruise ship arrivals in mid-March on the growth of the virus in the state.
NSW recorded its first case on January 22 in Burwood, Sydney.
The numbers grew steadily to 449 on March 19, the day the Ruby Princess disgorged passengers in Sydney.
By March 23 the number of positive cases had rocketed to 1043.
Another two days later the total was 1418.
The state total stood at 2389 on Friday, 91 more than on the previous day and the first time since March 28 that new cases have numbered fewer than 100.
The NSW death toll stood at 12 on Friday after a 75-year-old man who had been a passenger on Ovation of the Seas died in Wollongong Hospital.
A 74-year-old woman died in Albury Base Hospital.
NSW hospitals were treating 42 COVID-19 patients in intensive care and 22 on ventilators.
One of the new cases in NSW is a nurse at Storm Village Anglican nursing home in Taree.
Hunter New England Health is promoting testing among symptomatic residents in Taree, where three cases with unknown sources have appeared.
HNEH public health physician Dr David Durrheim said it was important for the community to be informed.
"Whenever we get a cluster of cases where we're not sure where their source is we will let that affected community know," he said.
"The purpose of doing that is to make 100 per cent sure that anybody with respiratory illness or fever can get themselves screened so that we can find all of the COVID-19 cases in that region and make sure that we can isolate them and slow transmission.
"We have now found there are three people with unknown source in the Manning area."
He said anyone with flu-like symptoms should use the drive-through testing station at Manning Hospital.
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