THE number of new COVID-19 cases in Hunter New England has dropped below 1000 for the first time in weeks, with 945 cases reported in the 24 hours to 4pm on Sunday.
It comes as household contacts of people infected with COVID-19 are no longer required to isolate in any Australian state, with Tasmania becoming the last jurisdiction to eliminate the requirement.
Of the new cases in Hunter New England, 386 cases were identified via PCR testing, and another 559 positive rapid antigen test results were reported to NSW Health.
In NSW, 7,723 new positive cases were reported.
There are 1,656 COVID-related hospitalisations, and 72 people are in ICU. There are about 330,000 active coronavirus cases around the country, with more than 3000 in hospital with the virus.
NSW and Victorian health authorities confirmed last week they had detected evidence of two new sub-variants of the Omicron strain - BA.4 and BA.2.12.1. The World Health Organisation has declared the BA.4 strain a highly transmissible variant of concern.
