NSW has recorded 124 locally acquired cases of COVID-19, among them a new case in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven area.
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The latest Illawarra case is the fifth to be diagnosed in the region this week.
Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD) says the new case is a resident of the Wollongong local government area, however is currently in home isolation outside the local health district.
"This case is linked to a known Sydney case and is not linked to the four previous Illawarra cases announced this week," a ISLHD spokesperson said.
There are no local COVID-19 cases currently hospitalised.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she expects that number to rise, given at least 48 cases were in the community while infectious.
Of the new cases, 54 are from South Western Sydney, 40 are from Western Sydney, 18 are from Sydney, eight are from South Eastern Sydney, two are from Northern Sydney, one is from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD and one is from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD.
Ms Berejiklian warned the impact of the harder lockdown will not be reflected in the numbers until at least the weekend.
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"I'm expecting case numbers to go up even higher," the premier said.
"It'll go up before it goes back down."
A new record 85,000 people were tested in NSW yesterday.
The premier said there had been some "spillover" into other local government areas in Sydney.
It comes as regions, brace for the virus to leak into their communities given the continued movement of workers in and out of Sydney.
Ms Berejiklian said we would be living with "some level of restrictions" until more people were vaccinated.
Workplaces and households remained the biggest contributors to transmission.
"We can't stress enough how contagious this virus is," Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said 67 of the new cases were linked to known cases and clusters.
There are 118 people in hospital, 28 in intensive care, with 14 requiring ventilation.
"This is a serious disease for all ages," he said.
There has been COVID outbreaks in two aged care facilities in Sydney, and another at a disability group home.
"The contact tracers are doing a fantastic job," Dr McAnulty said.