New England North West COVID-19: no new cases locally; NSW Health recovery data for patients three weeks on made public

Across the entire state, only five new cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday.

One new case was a paramedic based in Liverpool and one was a nurse at Sydney Adventist Hospital.

According to the latest data from NSW Health, Tamworth remains stable at 13 confirmed COVID-19 cases.

While new cases stabilise, the number of people who are recovering from the COVID-19 virus is soaring.

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For the first time since the pandemic struck Australia, NSW Health have released statistics about recovered cases publicly. The data can be found here.

NSW Health has been interviewing patients and collating information about their COVID-19 symptoms three weeks after being diagnosed.

According to the health authority, patients who report all of their COVID-19 symptoms have gone away are considered to be recovered.

It also said the time someone might take to recover depends on a range of factors like age and underlying conditions.

At the latest update on Wednesday afternoon, the Hunter New England Health (HNEH) district had 234 patients who had been officially cleared of the virus.

Of these, 208 people, or 89 per cent, had recovered within three weeks.

Tamworth recorded its first case of COVID-19 on March 24, almost one month ago.

The Leader asked NSW Health if recovery statistics would be released by local government area but a spokesman could not confirm.

Despite increased recoveries and a slowing spread, authorities are concerned about towns across the New England North West with mystery cases, where tracing has failed to confirm a source of infection.

As at 8pm on Tuesday, staff from Hunter New England Health (HNEH) were still trying to trace the source of infection for at least one coronavirus case in the Moree, Tamworth, Armidale, Gunnedah and Tenterfield local government areas.

Authorities are trying to trace where a woman who died in Tamworth hospital last Thursday - the first local death - caught the deadly virus.

It has been revealed the virus hitched a ride to the Northern Tablelands on a train carrying passengers who had been overseas.

Armidale still has only two confirmed cases of COVID-19, despite fears of a potential outbreak.

The Leader revealed on Monday a child protection worker at the Armidale Community Services Centre was confirmed to have the COVID-19 virus after testing late last week.

The Jessie Street office was closed for a thorough clean and almost 20 staff were forced into isolation as they awaited their test results for the infection.

As at 8pm on Tuesday, the Hunter New England Health (HNEH) district had 178 confirmed coronavirus cases, down two from the day before, when the tally sat at 280.

HNEH said the decrease is a result of ongoing case reviews by pubic health authorities.

The ongoing case count includes people who have recovered from the virus and those who have died.

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