Three people with COVID-19 have died in the Hunter on a day NSW recorded another record high for its daily death toll, as the state's top medico spoke publicly about the recent death of a baby who had the virus in Newcastle.
The latest deaths take the total to 26 in the Lower Hunter since the omicron outbreak took hold in the region five weeks ago.
The Hunter New England Health District recorded 2738 new positive COVID-19 results in the 24 hours to 8pm on Thursday - 1745 from PCR tests and 993 from rapid antigen tests.