ALL students will return to Macquarie College at Wallsend on Thursday, the day after the school called families to come and collect all 52 year two students after being advised a child in the grade had been in contact with a case of COVID-19.
A Hunter New England Health spokeswoman said on Wednesday evening that the student and everyone in their grade could return to the school as normal on Thursday.
"The family was originally thought to be a close contact but after further investigation were managed as a casual contact," she said.
"The Hunter New England Health Public Health Unit is satisfied the family did everything they were required to do, including get tested.
"They are deemed very low risk and everyone can go back to school.
"There are no further restrictions on or requirements from the family or the school."
College principal Rohan Deanshaw said the school "very much appreciated the support of Hunter New England Health throughout the course of the day".
"Their assistance was of immeasurable value to us as we navigated the complexities [of this case]," he said.
The event comes as the Hunter awaits news of whether there will be any local cases linked to the exposure at a Wallsend service station on Saturday.
Mr Deanshaw said the family had been wearing masks when they used QR codes to check into the Coles Express Goulburn Big Merino on July 16, some time after a person who has since tested positive for COVID-19 visited the venue between 11.50am and noon.
He said NSW Health had told the family they were contacts of a confirmed case and were required to get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of their result.
The school called the families of the 52 year two students on Wednesday and told them their children were required to go home and isolate until their affected classmate received their test result, which was later found to be negative.
Staff who had been in contact with the cohort in the past 48 hours were required to get tested and isolate.
Mr Deanshaw wrote to families on Wednesday afternoon for the third time that day and said he appreciated the day's events had led to "unanticipated stress and disruption".
"Unfortunately for all concerned, this has been unavoidable in the circumstances," he wrote.
"So thank you once again for your patience and trust as we endeavour to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for each child."
There were 110 new locally acquired cases of COVID-10 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, with 43 in the community while infectious.
Another 17 cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period.
A record number of tests - 84,000 - were conducted in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm Tuesday.
