There has been a massive jump in the daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the Hunter New England region, with almost 3000 fresh instances of the virus recorded in a day.
The region had 2961 new cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, according to the latest figures released by Hunter New England Health on Wednesday morning.
It represents an increase of 1349 cases from the previous day's tally.
As of Tuesday night, there were 11,422 active cases in the region, 71 people in hospital and five patients in intensive care units.
The Newcastle local government area had the most new cases (704), followed by Lake Macquarie (684), Maitland (450), Port Stephens (223) and Mid Coast (213).
The Tamworth local government area had 163 new cases, followed by Cessnock (135), Singleton (97), Narrabri (91), Moree Plains (71), Armidale (29) and Muswellbrook (22).
Next on the list of most new infections came the Gunnedah local government area (20), Dungog (19), Upper Hunter (18), Liverpool Plains (9), Uralla (5), Walcha (3) Gwydir and Inverell (2) and Glen Innes (1).
There were long queues at the Honeysuckle testing site in Newcastle again on Wednesday morning.
It came on a day that eight people died in NSW and the state recorded 35,054 new COVID-19 cases - a jump of almost 12,000 from the previous day.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said during a press conference on Wednesday morning that the state had put in a "substantial order" of rapid antigen tests.
"If there's a financial agreement that we can reach with the Commonwealth ... there is no dollar figure we won't put on the table ... to ensure rapid tests are available to anyone right across the state who needs one," he told reporters in Sydney.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison will reportedly take a plan to National Cabinet on Wednesday to subsidise the cost of rapid antigen tests for low income earners - including pensioners and welfare recipients.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers Union said the nation's supply chain was under significant pressure because some logistics operators were missing up to half their workforce largely due to the inability of workers to secure rapid tests.
"The TWU wrote to the Prime Minister in October urging the government to provide rapid tests to road transport workers to avoid unnecessary delays and keep drivers on the road," the union's national secretary Michael Kaine said.
"Instead, we have a completely predictable scenario where drivers are delivering rapid tests to be sold on the shelves of supermarkets and pharmacies - but they, like most Australians, can't access them themselves.
"It is vital that rapid tests are free and readily available. The government must prioritise access to transport workers and their employers who the community is again depending upon to keep Australia moving safely."
Have your say
Hunter MP Meryl Swanson says everyone should COVID-19 seriously after she became one of the thousands of people in the region to test positive. She says she suffered severe sinus pain, sweats, a cough and extreme fatigue. Are you battling COVID-19 as well? What has your experience been like - the illness itself, the battle for a test, the long wait for results? Share your experience of COVID-19 by completing the form below:
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