Three more Hunter people have died after testing positive to COVID-19 as the region records significantly more positive tests than other health districts.
The deaths included a man in his 80s from the Maitland area, a woman in her 80s from MidCoast local government area and a man in his 70s from Dungog.
NSW Health's latest COVID update shows the Hunter New England Health area recorded 1642 positive PCR and RAT tests in the 24 hours to 4pm on Wednesday, almost 500 more than the larger Western Sydney (1175) and South Western Sydney (1172) health districts.
Changes to testing mandates and the patchy availability and reliability of rapid antigen tests make the case count less reliable than in the past, but the available figures suggest positive PCR and RAT tests were about twice as high per capita in Hunter New England as in Western Sydney.
Hunter New England's official case count is higher despite a comparatively low testing rate.
The Hunter's per capita PCR testing rate was 109 per 1000 people over the past month, compared with 182 in Western Sydney.
The state's COVID-19 hospital load continued to fall on Thursday, despite the return of school last week.
Forty-one COVID patients are being treated in HNEH hospitals, down from a high of 116 in mid-January.
HNEH said it was too soon to conclude that the start of the school year had not resulted in a spike in hospitalisations.
NSW has 1795 COVID-19 patients in hospital, down from 1906 a day ago and 2578 this time last week.
Intensive care units are treating 121 COVID patients, 11 fewer than on Wednesday.
The three Hunter deaths bring the health district's COVID death toll since August to 85.
NSW recorded 24 deaths, including one person in their 40s, one in their 60s, five in their 70s, nine in their 80s, seven in their 90s and one aged more than 100.
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