New South Wales has recorded 35 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 as millions of residents under stay-at-home orders reach the halfway point of a two-week lockdown.
Twenty-three of the new cases reported in the 24 hours to 8pm Friday were in isolation while they were infectious, while three were in isolation for part of their infectious period.
Nine were infectious while they were in the community.
Twenty-nine of the new cases are linked to known infections.
Two new cases are linked to the unvaccinated student nurse who worked in a number of hospitals. Both did not work while they were infectious.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said while the number of new cases had again risen it was a positive sign many were in isolation during the critical period, and there were signs lockdowns were working.
“The green shoots are there,” she told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.
“The green shoots of the lockdown doing what we hoped it would are there.”
There has been concern the lockdown imposed on Greater Sydney, the Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong will be pushed beyond 9 July because many of the cases reported on Friday were not in isolation for the entirety of their infectious period.
Ms Berejiklian said a decision would come next week but would be dependent on how many new cases were in isolation during their infectious period.
"If we continue to see those trends, we have a greater chance of getting out of the lockdown in a timely way," she said.
The number of new cases – the highest in NSW since the first wave of COVID-19 in early 2020 - comes after NSW Health identified 35 possible exposure sites on Friday evening.
Anyone who attended Exquisite Brows and Spa in the Marrickville Metro between 9am and 5pm last Saturday is a close contact and must isolate for 14 days. A Strathfield medical practice, the Manly Novotel and the Eastlakes Woolworths are also close contact venues.
Those in the Penrith area should also be on high alert as traces of the virus have been identified in the sewerage network.
With AAP.
