NSW has recorded 1063 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.
Health workers taking swab samples from residents at a Covid-19 drive-through testing clinic in Sydney on 28 July, 2021. Photo: AFP or/ Saeed Khan
There were six deaths in the reporting period - three people were from Western Sydney, two were from south-west Sydney and one person was from Dubbo.
Four of the people who died from the virus were not vaccinated.
One woman in her 50s, who had received both doses but had serious underlying health conditions, died at Liverpool Hospital in Sydney's west.
A Covid-19 outbreak at Liverpool Hospital is still under investigation after 24 patients and five staff, including an intensive care unit nurse, contracted the virus over a week.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard said serology results, which were yet to be returned, would allow authorities to investigate how the virus spread through several wards.
He said he was confident the outbreak was being handled appropriately.
This is the third Covid-19 outbreak at Liverpool Hospital which has been one of the hardest hit by the Delta outbreak given its location in Western Sydney where cases continue to be the highest in the state.
Deputy chief health officer Marianne Gale said 97 percent of staff at Liverpool Hospital had received at least a first dose of Covid-19 vaccines.
More than 83 percent of people in NSW who are over age 16 have had one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and 55.5 percent are fully protected.
People wait in a queue for their Covid-19 coronavirus vaccination in Sydney. Photo: AFP
Almost a third of young people aged between 12-15 have received at least one vaccination which Hazzard lauded as an "amazing" result given vaccinations only opened up to that age group 10 days ago.
Cases are declining in Sydney's hotspots but Hazzard said it was too soon to downgrade the hotspot status for any areas.
There were 220 cases in Western Sydney overnight, compared to two weeks ago, on 11 September, when there were 444 infections.
Almost 30,000 retired health professionals have been given all clear to return to work around the country to ease pressure on the health system over the coming weeks.
NSW chief paediatrician Mathew O'Meara said returning staff would be automatically registered to practise for the next 12 months.
16 new cases in ACT
The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 16 new locally acquired cases of Covid-19.
None of the new cases were in quarantine for their entire infectious periods. At least 11 spent some time infectious in the community, with investigations into the movements of the remaining five people still underway.
Nine of the new cases are currently unlinked to other known cases or transmission sites.
There are 12 people in hospital with the virus, including two NSW residents. Two people are in intensive care, both requiring ventilation.
There are currently 211 active cases in the territory.
Canberra is entering the seventh week of its lockdown, which began on 12 August.
One case in Queensland
Queensland has recorded one new local case of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the person was a female student from St Thomas More College in Sunnybank, which was linked to a known cluster.
The student has been in home quarantine.
Palaszczuk said there was also a second case in a person who had arrived from overseas and was in hotel quarantine.
- ABC