Residents locked down in a Windale unit complex after a positive COVID-19 case have been released following a third negative test result.
The 28 residents at the James Street block were most recently tested on Monday and their negative results allowed them to be released after a week-long lockdown.
The tenants had been put into isolation in their units last Tuesday after a 52-year-old man brought the virus back from Blacktown.
The residents were first tested on Wednesday, and swabbed for a second time on Friday before the third test on Monday. All three rounds had come back negative for each of the residents.
Hunter New England Health said while the residents were no longer under a strict lockdown, a precautionary round of testing would take place on Monday to ensure there are no cases.
The block is managed by Wesley Mission, which described the result as "good news".
"We're thankful for the coordinated response from Hunter New England Health Public Health Unit and Acute Mental Health teams, Department of Communities and Justice, Police and security with our Wesley Mission teams," Wesley Mission CEO Rev Stu Cameron said.
"Our tenants have shown great patience in difficult circumstances, and their partnership has been critical to ensuring the wellbeing of everyone living at this location."
The residents' release comes after a pop-up testing clinic was held in Windale at the weekend.
The clinic was organised by Australian Clinical Labs. The company's business development manager Steve McInnes said they had provided pathology services to Windale for many years and recognised the difficulty many residents had accessing tests.
"Many Windale people are unable to travel even 500 metres to the drive through clinic as they don't have vehicles," Mr McInnes said.
He said while there were less than 100 tests completed over the two days, the "vast majority" had never been tested at all.
"We had a homeless person come through which was great," Mr McInnes said.
Mr McInnes said they were trying to organise a more permanent service in the suburb.
