The Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) registered its worst day for some time, with 30 new locally-acquired cases recorded in the past 24 hours.
It follows 24 infections from the previous day, lifting the overall total in the current outbreak to 421 since 5 August, with 256 of those active.
The Lake Macquarie LGA amassed the highest figure, with 16 cases.
A further seven were revealed in the Newcastle LGA, five in the Maitland LGA, and one each in Port Stephens and Cessnock LGAs.
Nineteen are linked, while six remain under investigation.
Unfortunately, 16 were infectious in the community.
In the Lake Macquarie LGA, four people are in West Wallsend, three in Morisset, two in Barnsley, with one each in Arcadia Vale, Belmont North, Booragul, Dudley, Mount Hutton, Rathmines and Warners Bay.
In the Maitland LGA, three were detected in Rutherford.
East Maitland and South Maitland had one case each.
Residents were also cited positive in Elermore Vale, Lambton, Maryville, Mayfield, New Lambton, Shortland and Waratah within the Newcastle LGA.
Abermain and Anna Bay were the locations in the Cessnock and Port Stephens LGAs respectively.
NSW logged 1,331 new infections as of 8pm on Friday 17 September.
Two were acquired overseas, while 25 previously reported cases have been excluded following further investigation.
The total number in NSW, since the beginning of the pandemic, now sits at 50,730.
NSW Health also reported the deaths of six people – four women and two men from western and south-western Sydney.
One person was in their 40s, another was in their 60s, two were in their 70s and two were in their 80s.
Three of the six who died were not vaccinated while the others had received one dose of a vaccine.
If you need to get tested for COVID-19 there are more than 410 clinics open across NSW.
For a complete list and booking details, visit: health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/clinics.aspx
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