HUNTER daily case numbers jumped on Thursday, with 20 of the health district's 36 infections recorded in the region.
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Hunter New England's overall total hit 4249 since August 5 with the latest figures, which were current to 8pm on Wednesday.
Of the new cases 11 came from Lake Macquarie with six in Newcastle, two in Port Stephens and one in Cessnock.
Moree Plains added seven cases. Inverell had three and Midcoast recorded four while Gwydir and Tamworth had one each.
Health authorities said 13 were isolated, 16 were infectious in the community and seven remain under investigation.
All but 11 cases were linked to known exposures or clusters, with seven still under investigation and four unlinked.
Lake Macquarie had five cases each in Macquarie Hills and Cardiff, with another in Barnsley.
Newcastle's cases were spread between more suburbs, with single cases in Jesmond, Merewether, Newcastle and North Lambton. Hamilton had two cases.
Port Stephens' two cases were from Corlette and Shoal Bay, while Kurri Kurri was home to Cessnock's infection.
Across the state there were 276 new cases in the 24-hour period.