NSW Health postcode data shows COVID case locations in the Hunter, Newcastle, Maitland, Port Stephens Lake Macquarie

The widespread nature of these cases has raised concerns that the virus will be difficult to contain and that the Hunter lockdown will be extended.

The latest data shows COVID-19 cases spread across Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland and Port Stephens local government areas.

Postcodes with cases included 2308 [University of Newcastle], 2299 [Jesmond, New Lambton area], 2264 [Morisset], 2282 [Warners Bay-Eleebana area], 2321 [Morpeth-Gillieston Heights area], 2323 [East Maitland], 2307 [Shortland] and 2318 [Williamtown-Medowie area].

Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison said the Hunter "does have a very mobile workforce in between local government areas".

University of Newcastle viral immunologist, Associate Professor Nathan Bartlett, said the "scattered and disconnected" cases in the Hunter were a concern.

"It's hard to connect them - there's some very tenuous links," Dr Bartlett said.

Many of the Hunter cases are younger people in their 20s.

"People in this age group tend to move around more. They visit places, they have friends, they go to the beach, they go to university," Dr Bartlett said.

"That's going to create some challenges for tracking and getting ahead of these cases."

He said younger people may have been a factor in the south-west Sydney outbreak, but "it tended to originate in family clusters".

"That's a big difference. That creates an entirely different dynamic in terms of what that outbreak looks like."

Premier Gladys Berejklian has said that once NSW reaches a vaccination rate of 50 per cent, some restrictions may be eased.

She cited face-to-face schooling and people returning to the workplace as restrictions that could be eased.

Ms Aitchison said the Premier urged teachers to get vaccinated, but those in the Hunter have had trouble getting a booking.

"One of the biggest groups I have asking me about vaccinations are teachers," she said.

HSC students in Sydney hotspots were offered vaccinations at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday, while a Year 12 student with a lung condition in Ms Aitchison's area "can't get vaccinated".

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