Update 11.46am
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian said NSW is considering incentives to get people vaccinated.
Update 11.38am
Dr Chant said she was "very concerned" for regional NSW.
"Regional NSW would be very attuned to the risk of people that have come in from Greater Sydney," she said.
"And I know that there's probably been lots of reports and police have probably responded lots of times to rural communities highlighting where people are in breach and police have also put in a lot of surveillance activities.
"So yes we are very concerned and that's why no one can be complacent.
"Whilst we have allowed rural NSW to continue a range of activities, which is not available to the people in Sydney, we need to make sure you are still vigilant."
Update 11.32am
NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said there were 290 COVID-19 cases in hospital, with 51 in intensive care and 24 needing ventilation.
"We are seeing young people in ICU," she said.
"We're seeing people in their teens, in their 20s and their 30s, as well as older individuals."
She acknowledged young people hadn't had the same access to Pfizer, but encouraged them to "strongly consider" getting vaccinated if they were over 18.
She pleaded for older Australians to make an appointment to get vaccinated.
Update 11.26am
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has urged people forward to get vaccinated no matter the type of vaccine offered.
"If you have any concerns, please go through your GP," she said.
"But I can't stress that enough if we all work hard we can get to that six million target by the end of August."
She said the vaccine would help people get back to a normal life sooner.
Update 11.23am
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed that the prime minister directly told her that NSW would receive and additional 180,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine over the next fortnight.
She said it was "good news".
"This is very positive news it means in the week of 16th August we can redirect those doses we've taken from the regions to give to the HSC students," she said.
"It also means we can put the balance into those eight local government areas in Greater Sydney of concern in particular."
Update 11.19am
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said high levels of virus had been detected in the Hunter and Upper Hunter region and there have been some cases in that region.
She said consequently there would be a one week lockdown, affecting these eight council areas:
- Newcastle
- Macquarie
- Maitland
- Port Stephens
- Cessnock
- Dungog
- Singleton
- Muswellbrook
The lockdown will begin at 5pm tonight and go until midnight next Thursday.
Update 11.12am
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant has urged people in Orange and Armidale to come forward for testing after remnants of the virus were detected in sewage there.
Update 11.07am
NSW has recorded 262 COVID-19 cases, 45 of which were infectious in the community in the last 24 hours.
Five people have died from the virus; three people in their 60s, one person in their 70s, and one in their 80s.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the five were not vaccinated and one of the five had received their first dose of the vaccine.
She expressed her "deepest condolences" to the families.
All of them died in hospital.
EARLIER
At least four Melbourne schools have closed as Victorian authorities race to trace the movements of a COVID-19 positive teacher.
A female teacher from Al-Taqwa College in Truganina was diagnosed on Wednesday and may have been infectious in the community for a week.
RELATED CONTENT
The school has been temporarily closed with more than 2000 students and 300 staff ordered to get tested and self-isolate.
In a statement on Wednesday night, the school said it would be locked down for 14 days and classes conducted online until August 18, unless the health department advised otherwise.
The Ilim College and Australian International Academy campuses as well as the Islamic College of Melbourne (ICOM) at Tarneit in Melbourne's west were also shut on Thursday as a precaution.
In separate letters, the three schools reassured parents that none of their students or staff had tested positive so far.
"There are many primary contacts at ICOM who may have been in contact with the Al-Taqwa positive confirmed case," one said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The Al-Taqwa teacher, aged in her 20s, is currently isolating and being interviewed by contract tracers and with urgent investigations are underway into how she contracted the virus.
She lives in the Hobsons Bay area with her husband, who was also undergoing testing on Wednesday night.
Victoria's COVID-19 Testing Commander Jeroen Weimar said the woman became symptomatic at the end of last week and may have been infectious in the community for a week before testing positive.
"The 28th, 29th, and 30th (of July) - we're assuming that's the point in time when she may have been infectious," he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
The college has been listed as a tier-one exposure site across those three days, while a Coles at Yarraville is a tier-two site for specific times on July 29.
Mr Weimar said some exposure sites listed in the Hobsons Bay area might be a connection point for the woman's infection.
Al-Taqwa College was a significant location for transmission in last year's second wave.
Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of Victora recording 725 cases, the highest daily number of infections in its deadly second wave of the virus.
Australian Associated Press
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