A sharp rise in cases in the New England and North West this week has residents on high alert for symptoms of COVID-19 as the Hunter New England Health District reported 73 new cases overnight.
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The Newcastle local government area reported 15 new cases to 8pm on Thursday, seven were in Lake Macquarie, with 14 in the MidCoast LGA, and four in Port Stephens. Maitland's local government area reported one new case, while there were six in Cessnock, one in Singleton, six in Tamworth, one in the Armidale Regional LGA, three in Inverell, and 15 in Moree Plains.
Of the new cases, 48 were infectious in the community with the circumstances of transmission unknown for 13 cases; 50 were linked to known transmissions. The health district has tallied a total of 829 active cases, with hospitals treating 16, three of whom are in intensive care.
Hunter New England's public health controller, Dr David Durrheim described the escalation of case numbers across the North West part of the health district over the past few days as "disturbing", and said that the large number of cases in the New England region have particularly impacted First Nations people.
The regions most affected - including local government areas at Moree, Tamworth and Inverell - have some of the lowest vaccination coverage in the state, Dr Durrheim said and urged the communities to "turn that around".
Several of the cases in the area have been linked to a funeral, subsequent wake, and a number of large social gatherings in the region over past days, which Dr Durrheim described as super-spreader events.
"There are a large number of people who are close contacts, and we urge them to please stay at home and make sure they get tested and isolate. Please do not take the virus out into the community," Dr Durrheim said yesterday.
The details of this report are developing. It will be updated.
Advice for close contacts:
Hunter New England Health has provided the following advice for close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases.
If you are fully vaccinated with two doses of completed at least 14 days before you had contact with a COVID-19 case:
- self-isolate for 7 days
- get tested straight away and again on day 6
- leave self-isolation after 7 days if your test on day 6 is negative, you feel well and you have had no further contact with a COVID-19 positive person
- for the following 7 days, work from home if you can and do not attend a high-risk setting (healthcare, aged care, disability care, early childhood centres, primary school and correctional facilities) even if it is your place of work
- get tested again on day 12.
If you are not fully vaccinated with no, one or two doses completed within 14 days of contact with a COVID-19 case:
- self-isolate for 14 days
- get tested straight away, on day 6 and again on day 12
- leave self-isolation after 14 days if your test on day 12 is negative, you feel well and you have had no further contact with a COVID-19 positive person.
If you have had COVID-19 in the past six months you will generally not be considered a close contact and you do not need to self-isolate or get a test unless you have symptoms.
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
