New South Wales has recorded 818 new community cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.
People wait in a queue for their Covid-19 coronavirus vaccination in Sydney. Photo: AFP
Three Covid-19 patients in their 80s, who all had underlying health conditions, died.
NSW has passed 5.9 million vaccinations, 738,000 of which were administered last week.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state was expected to reach its target of 6 million jabs "at least a week early".
The Premier said the target would prompt some restrictions to be eased for some people, and that specifics would be revealed later this week.
"We will be able to communicate what additional freedom people may have once they get to full vaccination and during September, and we will outline our plan for schools," she said.
"Both are a work in progress and we are consulting with the chief psychiatrist as well as the public health team to get the right balance."
Berejiklian acknowledged NSW residents may be going through "the rollercoaster of emotions" as case numbers fluctuate.
"I don't want is to focus so much on the numbers going up and down," she said.
"We want to see them go down, no doubt about that, and we're working so hard to make it possible, but the number we need to focus on is a vaccination rate."
Of the new cases, 120 were linked to a known case or cluster, while 94 were household contacts and 26 were close contacts.
The source of infection for 698 cases is still under investigation.
Forty-two cases were infectious in the community and a further 15 were in the community for part of their infectious period. Contact tracers are working to determine the isolation status of another 714 cases.
There were 160,000 vaccinations administered in the 24 hours to 8pm.
South-west Sydney concern
Deputy chief health officer Marianne Gale said authorities remained concerned about transmission in south-west Sydney, particularly the suburbs of Merrylands, Guildford, Auburn, Greystanes, Greenacre and Bankstown.
There are also concerns about the detection of Covid-19 fragments in sewage in Bateau Bay on the Central Coast, with residents of those areas encouraged to get tested.
Berejiklian would not be drawn on a timeline for when children would return to school, however she confirmed home-schooling would remain in place for all of September.
"It is important for us to make sure we have considered all issues in relation to schools going back," she said.
"As soon as we have concrete advice … we will communicate it."
-ABC
