Mid North Coast Local Health District Chief Executive Stewart Dowrick said the decision was made to meet community demands across the Mid North Coast.

"Although there are no new cases of COVID-19 on the Mid North Coast, we are continuing to do all we can to protect our community," he said.

"We've extended the hours of our testing clinics across the Mid North Coast to meet the demand and we also have a local COVID-19 assessment hotline available on 1300 001 956 for people to call with any questions around testing."

The Kempsey Hospital testing clinic also has moved location, locals who are attending the hospital for a COVID-19 test are now required to enter via Polwood St carpark next to the emergency department.

"We encourage people, even with the mildest of symptoms such as a runny nose, scratchy throat or a cough, to get tested," Mr Dowrick said.

As of 8pm on Sunday, July 26, there has been 25,468 COVID-19 tests undertaken across the Mid North Coast. Of those tests, 3629 are from the Kempsey Local Government Area, these include anyone with a Kempsey LGA postcode.

Although there have been no new cases of COVID-19 on the Mid North Coast, the local health district has introduced a number of measures to try to negate the spread of COVID-19 at testing facilities.

"NSW Health has directed that health workers at all public hospitals must now wear a surgical mask if they are within 1.5 metres of patients," Mr Dowrick said.

"Patients are also required to wear a mask, where possible."

This advice applies to hospital and community health settings and came into effect on Friday, July 24.

"In line with this advice, all visitors to our hospitals and Community Health facilities must also wear a mask. We encourage you to wear your own mask if you have one that is in good, clean condition. If you are visiting the hospital and you don't have a mask, our staff can provide one," Mr Dowrick said.

"To ensure we keep our hospitals safe, we have also limited the number of visitors to our facilities. Only one visitor is allowed per patient per day."

The Kempsey testing clinic, located at Kempsey Hospital, is now open seven days a week from 8.30am to 2.30pm.

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