NSW has reported 344 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and the central western region of Dubbo is going into a snap seven-day lockdown.
On the second worst day of the eight-week outbreak, at least 101 of the new cases were people who were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said some people in NSW might be allowed more freedoms if six million vaccinations were administered by the end of August.
“If achieved, there will be opportunities for us in parts of the communities were cases are low and vaccination rates are high for them to do more than they do today,” the premier said on Wednesday.
“That is what we are working towards and something that our government is very keen to make possible.”
Another two people have died – a man in his 30s from northern Sydney who had underlying health conditions and a man in his 90s, taking the number of COVID-related deaths in the current outbreak to 34.
Both men were unvaccinated.
There were 30,510 vaccination doses administered in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday night, taking the total in NSW to 1,728,339.
The Dubbo local government area in the state’s central west will go into a seven-day lockdown from 1pm on Wednesday after two positives cases were recorded in the region.
The Department of Education was advised by NSW Health late on Tuesday of a case at Dubbo West Public School.
The school has been closed, while staff and students are being asked to isolate and get tested if they have symptoms. The positive case has also been linked to Macquarie Anglican Grammar School and nine close contacts have been identified and are in isolation.
More than six million people in Sydney and surrounds are now in lockdown until at least August 28, with the Hunter, Byron Bay, Armidale and Tamworth areas also enduring lockdowns.
“In the region, Armidale has no extra cases, Tamworth has no extra cases, Northern Rivers has no extra cases. All positive signs,” the premier said.
But but it’s unlikely the Hunter region will come out of lockdown on Thursday after 14 new cases were recorded overnight.
Fennel Bay Public School at Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle is also closed on Wednesday after a student tested positive to COVID.
There are 374 coronavirus patients in hospital, 62 of them in intensive care and 29 are ventilated.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said none of the people in intensive care had received two doses of the vaccine.
“You can see that the vaccine works,” Dr Chant said.
There were 119,256 COVID-19 tests reported in NSW to 8pm on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, construction workers can now leave their high-risk coronavirus areas to work if they have been fully vaccinated and unoccupied construction sites can open at 50 per cent capacity.
AAP
