NSW

Hospitalisations have risen to 1066, up from 901 in the previous reporting period, with 83 patients in intensive care.

There are five times as many people being treated for Covid-19 in the state's hospitals as there were in mid-December, although the number of people in intensive care has increased at a slower rate.

Premier Dominic Perrottet last week said the health system "remains strong" and the state was in a "very strong position" despite the fast-growing case numbers and increase in hospitalisations because of the Omicron variant outbreak.

In Victoria, some close contacts who were initially advised to get a PCR test have received text messages from the Department of Health suggesting they get a rapid antigen test instead if they don't have any symptoms.

In New South Wales (NSW), Health Minister Brad Hazzard says wait times for Covid-19 test results have ballooned to 48 to 72 hours, with many people waiting even longer than that to get a result.

The NSW government yesterday urged people to only get tested if they have symptoms, are identified as close contacts, or as part of their travel requirements.

Authorities have reported 2566 new cases of Covid-19 in NSW, breaking another record.

It is the highest tally of daily coronavirus cases yet in Australia, increasing from the 2482 cases announced yesterday.

Cases were expected to jump with the ongoing relaxation of public health orders, while the Omicron variant has been blamed for the fast rise in infections.

There were no deaths from the virus in NSW on Saturday, but NSW Health said 227 people were in hospital in the state, including 28 people in intensive care wards.

Tasmania has also reported its first case, after the border to the rest of the country reopened yesterday.

Queensland has 22 new cases of Covid and 18 of those were detected outside quarantine, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.

The local cases spent up to a week in the community and were recorded in Brisbane's south, Brisbane's north, the Darling Downs, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, West Moreton and the Wide Bay.

D'Ath said most were acquired while in another state.

Today's daily case count is the lowest recorded in Victoria since 26 September, when the state recorded 845 cases, 695 of which were local.

There are now 17,518 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 416 people have died in the state during the current Delta outbreak.

There are 378 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 78 are in intensive care and 48 are on a ventilator.

The health department said a further 71 people are in intensive care, but their Covid-19 infections are no longer considered active.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant said the 20-year-old had significant underlying health conditions and was unvaccinated.

According NSW Health's own modelling, infections are anticipated to peak this week and hospitalisations will surge until mid-October.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the "next couple of months will be the most challenging" and in response to images of crowds gathering at weekend on Sydney's beaches, has asked the community to not become complacent.

The figures were reported for the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.

The youngest person to die was a man in his 20s who was not vaccinated and had underlying conditions.

Seven of the nine deaths were not vaccinated. One person had had one dose and one person had had two doses. All the people had underlying health conditions.

There are currently 1136 people with Covid-19 admitted to hospital; 194 people are in intensive care and 78 need ventilation.

It brings the Delta outbreak's total fatalities in the state to 107.

Yesterday the state had 1116 new community cases and four more deaths from the virus.

NSW has now passed the 7 million mark for first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

It has hit a 70 percent first-dose vaccination rate becoming the first state/ territory in Australia to do so.

There were 121,000 people vaccinated in the state yesterday.

From 5am tomorrow exercise will no longer be limited to one hour for those who live in Sydney's local government areas (LGAs) of concern.

"To 8pm last night, there were 1218 cases of community transmission, and we extend our deepest condolences to six families of loved ones who died of Covid," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at a press conference in Sydney.

"Three people in their 80s, three people in their 70s, four of them were unvaccinated and two of them had only had one dose of the vaccine.

"So again, we extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of those six individuals."

Sixty of those cases are known to have been in the community while infectious.

A further 19 cases were in isolation for only part of their infectious period and the isolation status of another 32 cases are under investigation.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the main focus of concern had shifted to Western Sydney.

"We are now seeing the virus becoming more prevalent in Western Sydney than south-west Sydney," she said.