The number of people with Covid-19 in NSW's hospitals jumped almost 15 percent in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday after the state recorded 2501 new cases.
Sydney beachgoers were able to go maskless on Bondi Beach this week, after NSW eased restrictions. Photo: AFP
NSW has 261 people being treated for Covid-19 in hospital, up from 206 on Saturday and 226 yesterday.
Intensive care patients also rose to 33 from 26 in the same reporting period.
The latest figures were taken from more than 144,368 swabs.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet yesterday said rising infection numbers were expected and urged the state to "stand tall".
"As we move through the next phase, case numbers will increase. That is the new normal," he said.
"When we believe there's evidence in front of us we need to potentially tighten restrictions we will."
Presentations to intensive care units were the "key metric" to consider, he said.
Cases were expected to jump with the ongoing relaxation of public health orders, while the Omicron variant has been blamed for the fast rise in infections.
Long queues have been spotted at testing sites across the state, driven by surging case numbers and mandatory PCR tests for travel interstate.
There have also been several reports of Rapid Antigen Tests - a Covid-19 home testing kit that can produce results in 15 minutes - being sold out across pharmacies and retail stores.
There were no deaths reported in the latest reporting period.
Victoria records 1302 new local Covid-19 cases
Victoria has recorded 1302 new local Covid-19 cases and zero deaths, as the state's hospitalisations have risen to the highest level in more than a month.
There are now 13,175 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and the death toll for the current outbreak remains at 635.
There are 406 people in hospital with Covid-19, including 81 active cases in intensive care, and 43 patients are on a ventilator.
It is the highest number of patients in hospital since 12 November, when the state was coming out of its third major wave of Covid-19 infections since the pandemic began.
The seven-day average for hospitalisations has been rising this month, from 296 on 6 December to 383 today.
- ABC