Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirmed that 1164 new coronavirus patients were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, and 67 per cent of the state has been vaccinated.

"Can I please encourage everybody who has not yet made plans for vaccination to really consider September the month when them and their loved ones - your loved ones and your family - are vaccinated," she said,

"It's so critical for all of us to have a more hopeful spring by making sure we get those vaccination rates up."

Tragically, three more people have died from COVID-19 and 871 are being cared for in NSW hospitals.

A woman in her 50s and a man in his 90s passed away in hospital in Campbelltown, and a man in his 80s from Sydney died in St Vincent's Hospital, chief health officer Kerry Chant said.

They come the day after the first regional death of the Delta outbreak, an indigenous man aged in his 50s who died in Dubbo Hospital on Sunday.

In other news

More than 130,000 tests were carried out across NSW on Monday, Dr Chant said.

The state's prisons have also gone into lockdown as Corrective Services NSW tries to stem an outbreak that has impacted at least two jails in Sydney and Bathurst.

Dozens of COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed at Parklea Correctional Centre since August 18 - including more than 40 on Monday - and eight staff members at the jail in Bathurst have tested positive for the virus.

"There have been 43 new cases linked to Parklea Correctional Centre to 8pm last night meaning there are now 75 cases in total," Dr Chant said.

"All of the new cases are inmates, meaning a total of 74 positive COVID inmates and one staff member.

"I've identified previously that prisons are vulnerable settings and it's pleasing that we've been progressively rolling out vaccination to our corrective services staff and prisoners we'll redouble our efforts to continue to keep our prison and corrective services staff safe."

Several inmates at Junee's correctional centre are in isolation as part of COVID-19 protocols after being transferred from Parklea, the government confirmed on Tuesday morning, as the jail remains locked down.

Western NSW continues to bear the brunt of Delta's spread to the regions, with another 54 cases of the virus detected in the Western NSW Local Health District [LHD] and four more in Wilcannia, in the Far West LHD.

The Murrumbidgee LHD [MLHD] remains free of the virus.

Ms Berejiklian advised businesses and citizens to "get ready" during spring to help get the state back to some sense of normality.

"If you're a business, make sure your employees are vaccinated. If you're a citizen make sure yourself, your families, loved ones and friends are vaccinated," she said.

"That's our ticket to freedom. Vaccination is key for us moving forward in terms of getting back to normal and normal under COVID will still mean have your QR codes, still mean you have to check in, still mean you have to maintain social distancing and wear a mask in certain settings.

"But will we be much freer than today? Absolutely."

However, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has conceded there was not enough Pfizer stock in NSW, urging people to consider AstraZeneca.

"Not getting vaccinated is self-entitled and indulgent in the extreme in the middle of a pandemic," he said.

"Go and get vaccinated and be fair to the rest of the community."

The interstate, trans-Tasman situation

Mr Barilaro raised hopes again on Monday that the Riverina could emerge from lockdown safely when the clock strikes midnight on September 10, telling journalists a number of factors would be considered in the decision-making process.

Mr Barilaro said LGAs with no cases could emerge from lockdown at the end of next week with little risk.

"The way we will approach the regions will be, where there are no cases, and there are big footprints in regional and rural NSW where there are no cases, we will look at lifting restrictions..." he confirmed on Monday.

"[In] the northern part of the state and the Riverina as well, I think there is a lot of confidence you can open those large areas up and have minimal risk."

However, the MLHD's director of public health Tracey Oakman said the region's brushes with COVID-19 in sewage detections and essential workers passing through shows just how quickly and close to home the virus can hit.

"The Delta strain is something that transmits easily, we do have people travelling through all the time as essential workers," she said.

"While they do get tested every three days, [the Wagga exposure] example just shows you how easy it is for a worker to travel through and be positive.

"The workers did the right thing in terms of their isolation and masking up but it doesn't take much to risk an exposure."

More on the pandemic

Meanwhile, a Wagga woman is calling for clearer restriction rules after inadvertently breaking one around shopping last weekend, leading to a $1000 fine.

Beth Linquist and her fiance were stopped for a breath test on the way home from buying groceries, when police noticed the shopping bags in the car.

The differences between advice on the NSW Health website and the COVID-19 NSW website make it hard to keep up with the rules, Ms Linquist said.

"There is definitely a lot of confusion around the rules," she said.

"I think they need to be more black and white so there's no room for confusion for people who are trying to do the right thing, like we were.

"We want this virus to go away as much as the next person, but it is hard to follow rules if you don't understand them."

A Tumut man is also among those fined recently, after a tip-off led police to a home early on Monday morning.

They spoke with several people who were abiding by the Public Health Order and reminded them of their obligations, who then dispersed, and a 22-year-oild was issued a fine for not wearing a face covering and not carrying a mask.

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