ANOTHER 21 people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Hunter New England Health district.
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It brings the total number of cases to 124.
Public Health physician Dr David Durrheim said that of those passengers, 69 had been passengers on Ruby Princess, Voyage of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas cruise ships.
"We are thrilled that these passengers have actually restricted themselves to being at home, they have self-isolated and we encourage everyone in the community to take a lesson from these heroes," he said.
"These are people who did not expect to be infected and yet they are playing their role in the community by ensuring they keep the virus at home and not spread it."
The news comes as NSW Health today announced it would provide the number of cases in each local government area.
Dr Durrheim urged anyone with a respiratory illness, cough, cold, sneeze or fever to stay home and stop the spread of the virus.
"The good news to date is that we've only had five cases in the HNE district where we haven't been able to track down the source, so community spread is not widespread at the moment," he said.
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"This is our time, this is our opportunity to really slow the spread of the virus. We're counting on all of you."