NEWCASTLE will have to wait at least another day for a formal decision on whether its week-long lockdown extends, but the state's leaders say 14 fresh cases were not a good omen for freedom.
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Tamworth, Armidale and the north coast escaped without fresh cases but NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said Hunter New England's chances of leaving its week-long lockdown "did not look as positive".
"Unfortunately in the Hunter New England area there were I believe 14 new cases overnight," Ms Berejiklian said.
"Hunter does not look like it will come out of lockdown this week, however we'll await the health advice."
Hunter New England Health said seven of the new cases were from Newcastle local government area, six from Lake Macquarie and one from Maitland.
The health district advised on Wednesday that "due to the increasing number of cases, we can no longer provide individual case breakdowns".
Three of the cases are under investigation, it said, while nine are under the age of 30.
Six were active in the community while infectious.
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"Those unlinked cases are the ones that concern us the most," NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said of the Hunter's cases.
The new numbers take the total Hunter case tally since August 5 to 53. .
Two fresh cases were also added on the Central Coast.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said that police received "a thousand calls to Crime Stoppers" every day regarding alleged breaches of the orders.
He said that penalties for breaching the orders, such as travelling into regional areas despite Sydney's lockdown, would be pursued extensively.
"We've seen people in these country communities devastated," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys said.
"People can of course be put before the courts, that's the minimum that can happen."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there were 344 cases to 8pm on Tuesday, with at least 65 infectious in the community for all or most of their infectious period.
"In the last few days we have seen a surge in the number of cases and we expect that to continue," she said.
"We ask the community to keep at it, to keep going, and to make sure you stick to the rules."
Two men, in their 90s and 30s, died in hospital. Both were unvaccinated.
Ms Berejiklian said the younger man, who died in Royal North Shore Hospital had underlying conditions.
119,000 tests were conducted in the 24-hour period.
"We really want to encourage people to keep coming out for testing," Ms Berejiklian said.
Dr Chant said it was "very difficult" to determine whether recent protests had contributed to the state's case numbers.
"Part of me gets really frustrated with what people have done, but our focus is on finding out where they have been," she said.
The Hunter had added 13 cases the day before, which took the running total to 39.
Ms Berejiklian on Tuesday would only say a decision on extending lockdown would be made based on health advice from Dr Chant while NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard flagged potential changes to rules governing movement between Sydney and the regions.
Mayfield's San Clemente was added as an exposure site on Wednesday, joining hotels including The Cambridge which were an urgent but "belated" addition on Tuesday afternoon.
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