A "vaccine passport" will be trialled next month in regional NSW after the state recorded 1035 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian Photo: AFP
The five people who died included a woman in her 50s who died at her home in Western Sydney and was only diagnosed with COVID-19 the following day.
There have now been 316 Covid-related deaths in NSW since the start of the pandemic.
Health officials said there had been a "very high" reading of virus detected in sewage from Oberon in western NSW.
NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said the passport trial would run for two weeks from 6 October and would allow people to show their vaccination status on the Service NSW app - the same app people use to check into venues.
"It's going to be a closed pilot for between 100 and 500 people."
He acknowledged the technology would not be in place by the time NSW reached the 70 percent vaccinated target in October but said he was "moving heaven and earth" to get the system up and running as quickly as possible.
"Overwhelmingly businesses want this [vaccine passport] in the Service NSW app because it makes it simple for them," he said.
The regional areas where the pilot would run were yet to be selected but Dominello said a small group of venues such as clubs and aged care homes would be invited to participate.
Security measures will be built into the app to prevent people using forged vaccination records, including a hologram similar to that used on drivers' licences
Dominello said he was aware of "disturbing" reports of tradies using fake Service NSW check-ins to avoid having to isolate in the event of a positive case.
He said police were now investigating.
"This is a serious criminal offence because you're putting not just your life in danger but other lives at risk ... if you get caught, I would expect some serious jail time there."
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said 83 percent of adults had received a first vaccination and 54.2 percent were now double-dosed.
She said a quarter of the state's 12-15 year olds had already received at least once vaccination, which she described as an "outstanding result" since schools were not due to start reopening until 25 October.
Victoria
In Melbourne, which has been dealing with a magnitude 5.8 earthquake that caused damage across the city, officials announced there had been 628 new cases of Covid-19 and three deaths.
It brought the state's total active cases to 6223, with 257 people in hospital with Covid-19, 58 in ICU and 37 on ventilators. Some 81 percent of those in hospital were unvaccinated, 15 percent were partially vaccinated and just 3 percent were fully vaccinated.
The state has 74.3 percent of the population with a first dose, and 45 percent with a second.
Deputy Premier James Merlino announced a $190 million package for schools, to provide 51,000 air purification devices to all government schools and low fee catholic and independent schools.
Merlino said the first batch would arrive next week.
"We will have a focus on higher-risk settings, places like sick bays, canteens, staff room, music rooms and more," he said.
"As you could imagine, there is huge demand, global demand, for these products ... and we are working to get as many schools with these devices as quickly as possible."
Melbourne has also had hundreds of protesters moving in groups through the CBD, and police continuing to patrol in large numbers after anti-vaccination protests turned violent on Monday.
On Tuesday up to 2000 protesters, many expressing anti-vaccination views, gathered outside the CFMEU offices in central Melbourne before marching to the Victorian Parliament, then walking up the West Gate Bridge, stopping traffic.
Police arrested 62 people, three police officers were injured and a journalist was hurt after having a can of drink thrown at their head while they were presenting live.
ACT
The ACT recorded 17 new cases of Covid-19, 11 of whom were infectious in the community, with just one confirmed to have been in quarantine for their entire infectious period.
Eight of the new cases were unable to be linked to other known cases. There are 222 known active cases in the territory.
There were 12 people in hospital with Covid-19, with two patients in the intensive care unit, both requiring ventilation.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the number of people who had been infectious in the community was concerning, and that some of the new cases were still under investigation.
"The potential risk from the cases announced overnight, particularly the number that has been in the community, is of concern," he said.
He repeated that the lockdown would not be lifting once 70 percent of eligible Canberrans had been fully vaccinated, due to concerns about potentially overwhelming the hospital system.
"We don't have unlimited hospital beds and we don't have unlimited intensive care capacity," he said.
As the outbreak continues, the Australian Defence Force has now joined ACT Policing and New South Wales police to conduct a series of border-crossing patrols.
ACT Health said yesterday that the virus had been introduced to the territory from at least 10 different sources.
"So this is a reminder to everyone that you need an exemption to travel into the ACT," Barr said.
He added that compliance around the capital had been generally good in the past 24 hours, but reminded people to maintain vigilance.
More than 81 percent of Canberrans aged 12+ have now received one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. Barr said that based on forward vaccinations for people under 40 years, the territory was on track to exceed 95 percent of the eligible population.
He announced the government would be hiring an additional 90 nurses and midwives to further assist in supporting the healthcare workforce.
- ABC