There were fears in the community there was a local case following an announcement of an exposure site at Woolworths in Taree on Sunday, September 12.

However Hunter New England Health District (HNEHD) today, Monday, September 13 confirmed the case that triggered the alert for Woolworths Taree was associated with a Sydney person who had come to the area on a train for work.

A spokesperson for HNELHD said the person may just have been passing through, and the case was being managed by South Western Sydney Local Health District.

Related: Seven deaths, 1257 new COVID-19 cases for NSW

HNEHD today announced 18 new cases in the health district.

Five are from Newcastle, five from Lake Macquarie, four from Port Stephens, two from Maitland and two from Cessnock LGAs.

There are currently 161 active cases in the HNEHD.

Nine of the total active cases are currently being cared for in hospital, none of them in ICU.

Eight of the new cases are linked, two are unlinked and eight are under investigation.

Two were isolating while infectious, eight were infectious in the community, with eight under investigation.

To see vaccination rates by postcode visit the Find the facts about COVID-19 government website HERE, or to view the case location map for the State HERE.

NSW Health sends a text message to people who have checked in at close contact venues with further information.

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