DAILY COVID case numbers in NSW could still be on the rise in October, the NSW Deputy Premier says.
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John Barilaro was talking after the state again set a new national record on Monday for the tally of diagnoses reported in a 24-hour period.
That number was 1290 and followed 1218 on Sunday and figures topping 800 across the past week.
"We expect September still to be a tough month with rising numbers," Mr Barilaro said.
"We're not going to see until mid to late September a lot of the vaccines kick in, because even though you've had your first dose or second dose, there's a two to three week lag on that, so we're expecting September and even October numbers to continue to rise.
"But there will be a moment in time when vaccines do kick in and we'll start seeing hospitalisations and of course hopefully deaths minimised."
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However, Mr Barilaro said what was occurring in each area would determine whether there was a re-opening of parts of the state at the end of next week.
"Leading into the 10th of September we're going to look at the regions again," he said.
"We'll try by local government area by local government area and then we'll look at a regional perspective."
Mr Barilaro repeated his criteria for areas to end lockdown - no COVID cases or viral sewage fragments and neither of those factors in adjoining council areas.
He noted the last statewide extension followed an assessment that 65 per cent of the regions would still be in lockdown because they fitted one of those criteria of concern and it made no sense to lift it because you could not stop a level of movement.
However, Mr Barilaro noted there remained large COVID-free areas.