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NSW recorded more than 1200 new cases of coronavirus and seven people have died, including a man in his 20s, on the first day of eased restrictions for some of the regions.
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced 1262 COVID-19 detections were made in the NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm Saturday in delivering the final 11am NSW virus update that has been a staple of the Delta outbreak and the pandemic.
Seven people lost their lives to the virus, Ms Berejiklian said, and more than 105,000 people were tested.
The peak is yet to arrive, the premier warned, with spikes in cases and hospitalisation expected.
"I say to everybody please, don't start getting complacent now," Ms Berejiklian said.
Just over 45 per cent of the state is now fully-vaccinated against COVID-19,and 78.1 per cent of the over-16 population have had their first jab.
In other news:
The majority of new cases were found in Sydney, however more than 100 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in regional areas, NSW Health data shows.
The Illawarra Shoalhaven local health district [LHD] recorded 53 new cases, and 33 were found in the Central Coast LHD.
Western NSW has 14 new COVID-19 patients, the Hunter New England recorded seven, the Far West diagnosed five and three were found in the Mid North Coast LHD.
Fragments of the virus have also been detected in sewage surveillance in a raft of regional areas where there are no known cases.
They are Moruya, Port Macquarie, Young, Trangie, Brooklyn, Gerroa, Eden, Yass, Karuah, Tamworth, Dunbogan and Dungog.
"I am particularly concerned by Yass, where we are seeing an increase in the level of the sewage detection," chief health officer Kerry Chant said.
"Could I ask everybody, especially in Yass, to come up for testing with the most minimal of symptoms and please follow all the public health advice."
It comes the day after the daily case record for NSW was broken yet again, with 1599 new cases announced on Saturday, and Young and Harden being put on alert after sewage detections were found in local treatment plants.
The interstate, trans-Tasman situation:
From Monday, NSW Health will provide daily video updates, with the premier expected to appear on a needs basis.
"I was very upfront and honest to say that while there would be ample information provided on a daily basis, I will not necessarily be the one providing the information on a daily basis," Ms Berejiklian said on Sunday.
"That is because, as I have said, I need a clear head. The next two months will be the most challenging our state has seen perhaps ever.
"And I need to make sure we are not only making decisions for the next day but for the next week and next month, and it's really important to make sure all of government is prepared for what the next few months bring us. I will still be a regular feature at 11am, but not every day."
The community of Wagga showed up in droves to the city's main street on Saturday after lockdown was lifted across the Riverina late on Friday night.
Businesses across the city that were forced to close their doors throughout the lockdown period were thrilled to reopen and welcome customers back.
"There were line-up's on the street, we even recorded a video of it," Cobbler Road's Hayley Veitch said.
"We knew a lot of people would be doing a lot of self-care today with the hairdressers and that, and thought they might not get out and browse, [but] it's been great."
Meanwhile, travel agents across the Riverina are praying the introduction of vaccine passports in Australia means the return of international travel is on the horizon.
The federal government has confirmed it will be rolling out the passports, which show the owner's vaccination status during overseas travel, from October this year.
Ms Berejiklian also flagged her hopes for open borders, in time for families to reunite for Christmas.
"I would like to think that by Christmas, not only will we be welcoming home more Australians, thousands every week from overseas to reunite for Christmas, but also that we don't have these internal state borders that we have," she said.
"I predict that New South Wales and Victoria will work more closely about these matters moving forward."
More on the pandemic:
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