NSW records 1063 COVID-19 cases, six deaths; five cases now reported for Mid North Coast

The new case is in Coffs Harbour, and is a close contact of an earlier case diagnosed in Coffs Harbour on the weekend. The person has been isolating since Saturday and was not infectious in the community.

There are now three positive cases in Coffs Harbour and two cases in Kempsey.

The two cases in Kempsey are household contacts. These cases forced the local government area into a snap seven-day lockdown at 5pm Tuesday.

The return to stay-at-home orders was imposed due to an increased COVID-19 public health risk.

MNCLHD chief executive Stewart Dowrick implored people to follow COVID-safe practices, to comply to the stay-at-home orders in affected regions and get tested even if they have the mildest of symptoms.

"Get tested at the earliest sign of symptoms such as a runny nose, scratchy throat, fever, headache, cough or loss of taste and smell. Remember, after being tested you must isolate until you receive a negative result," Mr Dowrick said.

All residents in the Kempsey LGA must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason, which includes:

People who are fully vaccinated can attend an outdoor gathering of up to five people for exercise or outdoor recreation, as long as all of those aged 16 or older are fully vaccinated.

To determine the extent of the risk and detect any further potential COVID-19 cases in the area, the MNCLHD is calling on the communities to come forward for testing in large numbers.

"A strong response to testing will be a key factor in determining if these stay-at-home orders are extended beyond one week," Mr Dowrick said.

"High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community."

A full list of COVID-19 testing clinic locations and opening hours are listed on the NSW Government website at www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/health-and-wellbeing/clinics

There have been 11 cases reported in the MNCLHD since the beginning of the current NSW outbreak in June.

There were 1063 new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 across NSW in the past 24-hour reporting period.

Authorities reported the deaths of six people with COVID-19 - four women and two men. Three people were from western Sydney and two people were from south-western Sydney.

The other person, a woman in her 90s, died at St Mary's Villa Aged Care Facility in Dubbo where she acquired her infection. It is the fourth death linked to an outbreak at this facility.

There have been 266 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021 and 322 in total since the start of the pandemic.

There are 1244 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 233 people in intensive care, 112 of whom require ventilation.

The breakdown of the 1063 locally-acquired cases is:

NSW Health's ongoing sewage surveillance program has detected fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 in sewage samples from Grafton in northern NSW.

As of midnight last night, stay-at-home orders were lifted for the Albury and Lismore local government areas.

Gilgandra and Brewarrina have also had their stay-at-home orders lifted, with the two regions were deemed low-risk after recording no new COVID-19 cases or positive sewage detections in the last 14 days.

Orange and Glen Innes are expected to be released from lockdown tonight, Mr Hazzard said.

Narromine will join this list on Saturday, September 25, if the LGA records the same result.