Six people died in NSW and 34,994 new cases were found in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, with NSW Health revealing 419 of those are residents of the Murrumbidgee Local Health District [MLHD].

Queues at the organisation's drive-through clinic at Wagga Showground were already stretching back towards the entry gate on Urana Street within an hour of it opening on Thursday morning as people seek out a PCR test.

The amount of tests conducted in Wagga has exploded in the last fortnight, and has jumped more than 240 per cent since early December.

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NSW Health has urged people to only seek a test if they qualify under new guidelines.

"Testing capacity in NSW is currently under enormous pressure and the only people getting a PCR (nose and throat swab) should be those who have COVID-19 symptoms, live in a household with a confirmed COVID-19-positive case, or have otherwise been advised by NSW Health to get tested," the department said on Thursday.

Despite the new record daily cases for Murrumbidgee, the region is still towards the bottom of the statewide pack.

Only the Southern NSW Local Health District [LHD] and Far West LHD recorded lower case numbers, with 322 and 30 respectively.

Outside of metropolitan areas, the Western NSW LHD recorded 524 fresh cases, another 637 on the Mid North Coast, 686 in Northern NSW, 1116 for the Central Coast, 1452 in Nepean Blue Mountains, 1633 in Illawarra Shoalhaven, and 3424 in the Hunter New England.

Meanwhile, Wagga businesses are facing yet another period of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic as they try to source rapid antigen tests to screen their employees for infection.

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