Five new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the Newcastle region and health authorities are raising alarm about the number of people infectious in the community.
There are three cases in Lake Macquarie, one in Port Stephens and one in Maitland.
Most of today's new infections have been linked to workplaces or household contacts, while one in Macquarie Hills is being investigated.
It comes after a surge of 27 new infections recorded over the weekend, more than half of which were in Port Stephens.
Hunter New England (HNE) Health public health controller David Durrheim says too many infected people have been out in the community.
"Over the past five days, in the Hunter New England region, we've seen that 29 of 41 confirmed cases have, unfortunately, been infectious in the community," he said.
No call on lockdown's end
There have been more than 200 cases in the Hunter region since the outbreak began on August 5.
More than 400 people in the region are in isolation as close contacts.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said it was still to early to say if the Hunter would come out of lockdown earlier than the Greater Sydney region.
"Still too early to call," he said.
"On Wednesday we'll have everything submitted to NSW Health, we'll go to crisis committee and then we'll be making a decision about what happens in the regions."
Motel outbreak concerns
HNE Health is putting people linked to the COVID-19 outbreak at Heatherbrae's Motto Farm Motel into isolation.
There is another round of testing of staff and residents today after a COVID-positive person was there last week.
One of today's new cases is one of several linked to the cluster.
"We can't afford, at this stage, to release people into the community," Dr Durrheim said.
