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One Newcastle death, 797 new COVID-19 cases in HNELHD

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Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) continues to record the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the state.

It comes as the region detected a further 797 infections overnight – a drop of 159 in the past 24 hours, as well as one death.

Of that latest tally, 530 were uncovered by RATs and 267 were from PCRs.

While figures have decreased, HNELHD public health physician Dr David Durrheim warns we’re not out of the woods just yet.

“Unfortunately, over the past two weeks, the HNELHD has been at the top of the list when it comes to confirmed and reported Omicron cases,” he stated.

“We’ve seen that the vast majority of those are in young children or adolescents in at least half of them in that age group.

“So, it’s quite clear Omicron is still circulating in our school population.

“Three-hundred and ninety-three schools have had confirmed cases, with nearly 5,000 children or adolescents reported to NSW Government.

“It’s really important at this point in time, make sure your child – if they’ve got any symptoms – does not attend school.”

Overall, the state recorded 6,014 positive test results as of 4pm on Saturday 26 February, including 3,816 RATs and 2,198 PCRs.

Sadly, NSW Health reported the deaths of seven people: six men and one woman.

Two were in their 60s, three were in their 80s, one was in their 90s and another was aged over 100.

Older age is a significant risk factor for serious illness and death for COVID-19, particularly when combined with significant underlying health conditions.

Five people had received two doses of a vaccine, another had one dose and one person was unvaccinated.

The fatalities occurred in south-western Sydney, the northern beaches, Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the Shoalhaven region, the South Coast, the Newcastle area and north-western NSW.

This brings the total number of COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 1,897.

There are currently 1,146 cases admitted to hospital, including 58 people in intensive care, 21 of whom require ventilation.

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