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HUNTER New England Health (HNEH) have confirmed that a reported positive case of COVID-19 in the Upper Hunter town of Parkville was a false alarm, and the case was using a previous address.
The positive case resides in Sydney and has been reclassified.
There is no risk to the Upper Hunter community, HNEH said in a statement.
EARLIER:
ARMIDALE local government area has recorded one new case of COVID-19 overnight in Castle Doyle.
Hunter New England Health said the case is unlinked to any known positive cases, was infectious in the community, and investigations are ongoing.
It comes as the Hunter region's daily COVID cases have spiked to 11 on Friday as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it appeared numbers would peak in two weeks.
The region's outbreak grew to 204 cases, 85 active, with the fresh infections spanning into the Upper Hunter local government area for the first time.
A resident in Parkville near Scone has tested positive to the virus and investigations are ongoing.
Centennial Coal has confirmed that a worker at its Mandalong underground mine tested positive, while Hunter New England Health flagged several exposure sites including supermarkets at Charlestown and Shoal Bay.
It was not immediately clear if the coal worker was among the cases announced on Friday.
They join a growing list of Hunter exposures, and concerns after some Sydney tree loppers who went door to door in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie later tested positive to the virus.
Four cases were from Port Stephens, with three in Salamander Bay who were isolating while infectious and linked to a current positive household infection in that area.
A New Lambton case and another at Heatherbrae were both infectious in the community and is unlinked as contact tracers seek the source.
Both Lake Macquarie cases , at Swansea Heads and Whitebridge, and a North Lambton case were linked to a current positive household case and in isolation.
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A Raworth case is linked to a household case, while the infectous status of the unlinked Upper Hunter case from Parkville is under investigation.
Five people are in the heatlh district's hospitals, with none in intensive care.
649 Hunter close contacts are in isolation.
1431 cases were added in NSW, with a dozen deaths in the 24 hours to 8pm Thursday.
"The best health advice I have is that we anticipate a peak in cases in the next fortnight," Ms Berejiklian said.
"The next fortnight is likely to be our worst in terms of cases.
"You have nothing to fear about getting the disease if you follow the health orders and get vaccinated. That is the best protection."
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