New South Wales has recorded one death and 452 new locally acquired cases in the latest 24-hour period.
(file pic) Photo: AFP / Steven Saphore
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the source of many of the infections was unclear.
Of today's new cases, 129 were linked to a known case or cluster and the source of infection for 323 cases are under investigation.
NSW Health said 30 cases were infectious in the community, 24 were in isolation for part of their infectious period and the isolation status of 297 remain under investigation.
Three-quarters of the new cases are people aged under 40.
There were 152,000 tests conducted yesterday.
The death was a woman in her late 70s who was not vaccinated.
A record 168,000 Covid-19 vaccines were administered in NSW during the reporting period.
There have now been 5.2 million vaccinations given across the state.
"Can I do a special callout for everybody across New South Wales who is over 70?" Berejiklian said.
"The vaccination rates are OK in that age group, between 70 percent and 80 percent depending where you are, but we want that higher."
She urged people to contact their GP, pharmacist or local area health service to find out the closest place to get a vaccination.
The premier said authorities would not allow the virus to run rampant in the community, but life would be freer once vaccination levels in NSW get to 70 or 80 percent.
"We gave an undertaking that in September and October, which will be our most difficult months, the challenge for us as a team and a government in New South Wales will be how can we keep our citizens safe and as free as possible during those difficult months," she said.
Earlier today, NSW health authorities confirmed that several patients and staff members from St George Hospital's oncology ward have tested positive to coronavirus.
The three patients and two staff members tested positive in recent days and as a precaution the hospital is treating all patients in the ward as close contacts, with additional infection control measures implemented.
Yesterday was the state's worst day of the pandemic so far, with the premier announcing there had been seven deaths and 478 new cases in the previous 24 hours.
24 cases, tougher rules in Victoria
Victoria has recorded 24 new locally acquired Covid-19 cases, 14 of whom have been in quarantine during their infectious period.
Contact tracers have linked 21 of the cases back to existing clusters in the Delta outbreak.
The state processed 31,519 test results on Monday, when 25,742 doses of vaccine were delivered at state-run sites.
The rules for Melbourne's lockdown were tightened overnight, with the introduction of a 9pm-5am curfew and the closure of public playgrounds.
Chief health officer Brett Sutton said the tough rules were necessary as the state stood at "the brink" of being overwhelmed by the outbreak, partly due to some Melburnians continuing to breach restrictions.
The city's lockdown and curfew will be in place until 2 September.
There are now more than 540 venues listed as Covid-19 exposure sites, with essential food shops around St Kilda among the most recent additions.
Two new cases in Queensland
Two new cases have been recorded in Queensland, but neither were infectious in the community, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
One of those people is in hotel quarantine, while the other is linked to the Indooroopilly cluster and has been isolating at home, the premier said.
Queensland authorities remain concerned about the worsening situation in New South Wales.
Palaszczuk said police had stopped and checked 10,000 cars at the Queensland border in the past 24 hours, and turned back 1000 of those cars.
An extra 25 police officers will arrive at Coolangatta tomorrow, with a further 25 to be sent to border posts out west, she said.
Police checked 10,000 cars at the Queensland border with NSW in a 24-hour period, the Queensland premier says. Photo: AFP
Hundreds of contacts of case in NT
The Northern Territory Health Minister said authorities have identified about 300 close and casual contacts of a man who has tested positive for coronavirus in the NT.
The positive case triggered a snap three-day lockdown yesterday for the Greater Darwin and Katherine region after health authorities said the infected man spent several days in Darwin before driving to Katherine on Sunday.
The lockdown is scheduled to finish at midday on Thursday, but Natasha Fyles said it was too early to say if the regions would exit lockdown as planned.
"The threat is very real to the NT. We've got a gentleman that has been infectious in our community," Fyles told ABC Radio Darwin this morning.
"We have got a number of close contact locations. We are identifying those individuals … and it's a waiting game while we await those test results."
- ABC
