The Newcastle Knights rugby league team is undergoing precautionary COVID testing due to a possible link to the city's nightclub cluster.
Case numbers in the city have exploded after a 1970s-themed prom night event at the Argyle House last week.
About 700 people checked in to nightclub on Wednesday, December 8 for the event, which has also put other venues in the city on high alert.
Eighty-four Argyle attendees have contracted COVID-19, and thousands more are getting tested on Monday.
In a statement, the Newcastle Knights said it had taken a "proactive position" by sending players and staff for tests amid the outbreak and that there were no positive cases among the team "at this point in time".
"As required, everyone who has been tested will self-isolate at home until results return, with a view for all confirmed negative cases to return to training immediately," the statement said.
On top of the nightclub cluster, anyone who attended the University of Newcastle's Fifth Year Medical Ball on the evening of Friday, December 10, has been deemed a close contact.
This afternoon Hunter New England Population Health physician Tony Merritt said authorities were worried about a domino effect that could involve the Omicron variant
"So in addition to those two venues, we’re now aware of another significant string of smaller venues [being affected]," he said.
"It’s obviously a time of year for people's work gatherings and Christmas gatherings and we’re aware of a large number of smaller gatherings that are very likely to be impacted by the spread of COVID, and as I say, we suspect the Omicron variant."
On Monday night New South Wales Health listed Finnegan's Hotel as an exposure site between Friday, December 10 from 6:30pm and 2:30am on Saturday, December 11.
Dr Merritt said the whole community was likely to be affected by the outbreak during the holiday period, but did not go into specifics about what restrictions may be imposed.
"There will be impacts on these next couple of weeks — that’s inevitable with the level of widespread transmission," he said.
"But certainly lots of local implications for us where we’ll all be doing our bit by getting tested, by isolating.
"The key messages we ask of people that are identified as close contacts are really important to get an early test — that’s critical."
Dr Merritt said people who were close contacts must remain in isolation for at least seven days even if their first test came back negative.
Omicron case in isolation
The Argyle House patrons partied into the early hours of Thursday morning.
By Sunday they were deemed close contacts after health officials confirmed at least four infectious people linked to a Sydney boat cruise visited the nightclub.
One of the party boat people had a confirmed case of the Omicron variant.
The exact number of Omicron cases is not known, but there is one confirmed case in the city — a returned traveller from the UK.
The local health district said the woman and her close contacts had been isolating at home.
Other Newcastle venues on alert
The Argyle case explosion has other licensed venues in the city on high alert.
More than half a dozen closed on Monday for precautionary cleaning after hundreds of patrons linked to their venues were also linked to the cluster.
Australian Hotels Association Newcastle and Hunter president Mick Starkey said it was a nervous time.
"Currently all of the affected hotels are just simply following the health advice in regards to management of the potential outbreak," he said.
The Queens Wharf Brewery is one of several bars in Newcastle affected by the outbreak at the Argyle.
One of its workers caught the virus after attending the prom night event with some colleagues.
"He has come up positive, but fortunately he hasn't worked here since," licensee Stephen Smyth said.
"We decided to close, just to protect the public and our other staff, so they're getting tested."
Mr Smyth said it was likely Argyle patrons went to other venues and that local businesses should take a cautious approach.
"I'd certainly do the self-testing, which we've done here," he said.
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