Eight local government areas in western NSW have been added overnight to a growing list of locked-down areas as COVID-19 continues to spread into the regions.
A one-week snap lockdown now applies to Bogan, Bourke, Brewarrina, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Narromine, Walgett and Warren LGAs, while authorities scramble to ascertain all exposure sites included.
The man visited Dubbo and Bathurst and is believed to have been infectious since Thursday, while Bathurst's prison has also been locked down.
Bathurst Correctional Centre is the first jail in NSW to record a COVID-19 positive case this year.
The newly locked-down regional areas join Dubbo, Tamworth, the Northern Rivers, Armidale, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Port Stephens, Singleton, Dungog, and Muswellbrook.
Panic buying followed Dubbo town's restrictions, while a case was recorded at Dubbo West Public School.
It comes as public health orders will reportedly be toughened, following lobbying by police, to further restrict movement out of Sydney and to minimise loopholes in the state's lockdown rules.
The 52-year-old Sydney man who prompted the Byron Bay lockdown after travelling to the region while symptomatic has been charged. He is currently being treated for COVID-19 at Lismore Base Hospital.
On the second worst day of the eight-week outbreak, at least 101 of the new cases were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Wednesday reminded everyone that eligible people needed to get jabbed to reach the vaccination target, and freedom.
"Two doses of 70 per cent vaccination [is the target] and NSW, if we had the current pace, we will hit that around the end of October," the premier said on Wednesday.
But life won't be "back to normal" until 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated towards the end of November, the premier said, referencing the Doherty Institute modeling produced for the national cabinet.
While NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell could not give a parliamentary inquiry a firm date students would be returning to classrooms, she said parents could expect more clarity "within the coming weeks".
SBS is providing live translations of daily NSW COVID-19 press conferences in Arabic, Assyrian, Cantonese, Khmer, Mandarin and Vietnamese. You can stream those live translations at SBS Arabic24, SBS Assyrian, SBS Cantonese, SBS Chinese, SBS Khmer, and SBS Vietnamese Facebook pages.
