Tamworth COVID-19: NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro pushing for end to lockdown in northern NSW

He flagged an area of northern NSW - stretching from the northern rivers to Tamworth - and the Riverina region to the south-west as the most likely to be released from lockdown, if that approach is taken.

"That's my hope, but I've got to get the support of Health to agree with that," he said.

He said if positive sewage tests could be traced to potential causes it would make it easier to put forward a case for those areas to come out of lockdown.

"Tamworth has no cases, it's just that sewage surveillance, and it's possible that we understand where that's come from," he said.

"If the northern part of the state was to open this weekend, if that was the decision made by Health and crisis committee, Tamworth would definitely be part of that."

A crisis meeting will make a decision on regional NSW lockdown on Wednesday afternoon, which will be announced on Thursday.

Tamworth recorded its fourth consecutive positive sewage test for COVID-19 on Saturday, despite no known cases in the community, and health authorities have been scrambling to identify a possible cause.

Additional sewage test results are due on Wednesday.

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During a regional media briefing on Tuesday, Mr Barilaro faced questions regarding a person who had reportedly "been discharged from hospital in the Western NSW Local Health District" after being treated for COVID-19, and had since visited Tamworth to engage in moral support from family.

He said if that were the case, this person could be responsible for the city's positive sewage tests due to shedding of the virus.

But Hunter New England Health say they are yet to confirm if the individual has been in the area.

"Our Public Health Team exhausted all avenues yesterday and were not able to locate or identify the individual as being in the Tamworth area," a spokesperson told the Leader.

Hunter New England Health also denied claims patients with COVID-19 from surrounding regions were being cared for at Tamworth hospital.

"We can confirm no patients with COVID-19 are being, or have been, cared for at Tamworth Hospital since this outbreak began," the spokesperson said.

"This includes residents of Hunter New England and any other district outside our area. John Hunter Hospital is the only hospital in Hunter New England to have an admitted patient during this outbreak."

With the cause of Tamworth's sewage detection unknown, authorities are urging the community to get tested for the virus, but testing numbers still remain low.

The region's latest testing data, released by Hunter New England Health on Tuesday, indicates that from September 2 to 5, just over 1000 Tamworth locals got tested, 300 fewer than the same period the week before.

In Gunnedah local government area, testing numbers also remain low with 173 locals getting tested for the virus from September 2 to 5.

During the same period in Armidale local government area, 429 locals were tested.

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