The Newcastle Herald understands employees at HNE Kids Health's community services have been told that unless they have received a text message from NSW Health confirming they are a close contact, they are expected to show up to work in face-to-face roles.

An employee, who is not permitted to speak to media, said staff members who knew they had been in close contact with a COVID case - for a significant amount of time and in high risk settings - had been advised they could not take time off to get tested and isolate unless they had 'proof' from NSW Health first.

"Our service has been told we need all hands on deck," she said.

"But the contact tracing is about a week behind, so how can we get 'proof'? It feels like an awful test - like they think we are taking the piss by asking to have time off to get tested."

The health employee had shared a meal with a close friend at a restaurant over the weekend before heading to a bar which has since been identified as a venue linked to several positive COVID cases. They had been together for more than eight hours.

That friend tested positive for COVID this week.

But without a text message from NSW Health confirming her as a close contact, the staff member was advised she was expected to turn up for work or use her sick leave in order to get tested and isolate.

"We are not eligible for COVID leave without that directive from NSW Health," the employee said.

She said this was not an issue across the board at Hunter New England Health, as she knew of other departments who were not receiving these directives.

More: Four Anglican Care aged homes locked down due to COVID

Hunter New England Health medical controller Dr Paul Craven believes this has been the result of a misunderstanding of the change in close contact rules earlier this week.

"We send out a daily message asking people to get tested if they are at risk or symptomatic," he said.

"But there have been some changes this week regarding the rules for close contacts, so perhaps there has been some confusion.

"You are a close contact if you live with someone with COVID, you are a close contact if you have been to a super-spreader event that's defined by the Ministry Of Health... But even if someone was in contact with a colleague or friend or had dinner with somebody with COVID, we are following the advice now that you get tested, and if that test is negative, you come back to work.

"We would never want people to come back to work if there was a risk of COVID."

More: Testing increases nine-fold in four days as district records 674 cases

Dr Craven said he would reiterate and clarify the rules with HNE Kids Health's community services management to ensure there was no further confusion or misunderstanding.

"If someone needs to have leave because they are a close contact, they need to have leave. We have been doing it for two years with no problems," he said.

But the employee said that as fewer places started to use QR codes, official close contact notifications would naturally drop.

Staff would rarely be able to access COVID leave to test and isolate. And working from home - even for those who could do their work remotely - was no longer offered as an alternative.

"We have basically been told that we are going to have to live with COVID now, that we have to 'normalise it'," she said.

"So even if you think you might be a close contact, the message we have been getting - at least in our department - is that there is no need to get tested unless you have symptoms.

"It feels like everything that has been hammered into us for the past two years has been thrown out the window.

"We've been told that we're still good to go, that we're still expected here, unless we have symptoms."

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: