‘It’s a ghost town’: Covid has left NSW’s second-largest city reeling

After an Omicron outbreak at popular nightclub Argyle House, Newcastle's pubs are closing their doors and everyone's staying away'

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On the main street of Newcastle, the Happy Wombat pub has become an oasis in the desert.

I feel like I'm running the last waterhole, and everyone's coming here to drink the muddy water," publican Luke Tilse tells Guardian Australia.