Publican Mick Starkey, who runs the Stag and Hunter Hotel and Customs House, said he "might as well be closed" as patrons were staying away in droves.

Burwood Inn owner Tony Dart told the Newcastle Herald on Wednesday that business was picking up after a difficult few weeks.

Less than 24 hours later, four of his staff and Mr Dart himself had tested positive, forcing the Merewether pub to close for the day.

The Cricketers Arms has closed its restaurant until further notice, the Wests Group has closed some of its club restaurants and the Hamilton Station Hotel has been forced to cancel three live music nights in the first two weeks of the new year.

Omicron is sweeping through the young adult age group that makes up the bulk of hospitality workers and patrons.

Pubs reported a quiet New Year's Eve and slow trading in general over the summer since the Argyle House and Finnegan's super-spreader events four weeks ago.

"It's almost like a lockdown by stealth," Mr Starkey said.

"I've never seen it be so quiet at this time of the year.

"From that first week of December to that second week, we went from the busiest week we'd ever had to the quietest we'd ever had.

"For anyone that's open, it's not very good at all."

He hoped to return to "some kind of normal" by the end of January.

"The kids are back to school in February then we can start to gear up for Supercars and hopefully give us a little bit of a boost into winter, because that's when I think we're going to see the true effects of this poor summer," he said.

Hunter New England Health district reported a record 3424 cases on Thursday, including 912 in Newcastle and 866 in Lake Macquarie.

Mr Dart said that for the first time in the pandemic most Hunter people knew someone who had COVID.

"A lot of people I'm speaking to say we've just got to get out and get on with our lives, but so many people are isolating, so many people are close contacts," he said.

"You've got a lot of the elderly who are, I think, nervous.

"Newcastle's been a bubble of no cases.

"It's not terrible, but there's no one in the streets."

Mr Dart said his restaurant bookings had picked up since the shock of the omicron outbreak in early December.

"Our worst day was probably Saturday the 18th," he said. "I had 70 booked in for lunch and 130 for dinner that night. I came in the Saturday morning and I had three people booked for dinner and that was it."

Mr Dart's wife, Sandra, said on Thursday that what had appeared to be a more promising week had turned into a "nightmare" after four young staff and her husband returned positive tests.

She hoped to cobble together enough employees to reopen on Friday.

Signal Box bar and restaurant in Wharf Road closed for two weeks before Christmas after at least five staff tested positive.

It reopened briefly before co-owners and senior chefs Dan James and George Mirosevich also tested positive, forcing another shutdown for several days last week.

Mr James was one of about 20 people who tested positive after a training session at an East Maitland gym.

"We're crippled with staff anyway in hospo. It's absolutely horrible," Mr James said. "I had myself and my head chef out. We just can't run the kitchen."

Another of Signal Box's owners, Destination Port Stephens chairman Andrew Macdonald, said the venue's trade had been reasonably strong when it was open.

"New Year's Eve it was a bit of a ghost town down there, but we still did nearly equal numbers to last year, which was a good year," he said.

"It's holding on, but it's a day-to-day proposition. It's unusual times. I've been to Honeysuckle and there's not a lot of people around, not a lot of foot traffic."

Mr Macdonald said Nelson Bay, where he owns a hotel and cafe, had been busy.

"A few of the bars and pubs had barely anyone in them on New Year's Eve, so people went to ground a little bit.

"But my Little Nel cafe up here is very busy.

"Up here at the Bay we're still getting visitation.

"The hotels, the Airbnbs are all 100 per cent full, but we're hearing some of the clubs and indoor venues are a bit quieter."

Scratchley's on the Wharf owner Neil Slater said the restaurant's bookings had been "there in pretty much the right numbers".

"But from one day to the next you're never sure how many staff you're going to have on deck," he said.

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