NSW has tightened the rules for people travelling into the state if they have visited other regions under new COVID-19 restrictions, as numerous new venues across Sydney were named as exposure sites.
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NSW Health says people from areas in the Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia now subject to stay-at-home rules should not travel to the state unless permitted to do so.
From Wednesday, anyone coming to NSW who has been in those areas in the previous 14 days must complete a declaration form. This is the same requirement already in place for people who have been in Victoria in the previous 14 days.
Meanwhile, NSW Health has issued more than 20 new public health alerts for venues across Sydney visited by COVID positive cases, including gyms, restaurants, shops, clubs and hotels as well as some bus routes. All are listed on its website.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced another 19 COVID cases on Tuesday ahead of residents of Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains, Wollongong and Shellharbour regions entering their fourth day of a lockdown on Wednesday.
The stay at home orders remain in place until at least July 9.
Ms Berejiklian has warned infection numbers could spike in the next few days because of the increasing transmissibility of variants of concern like the Delta strain.
That means some restrictions will likely remain in place, even after the current cluster is eradicated and the lockdown ends, she added.
"When you know that you've got such a transmissible variant ... you do need to look at what life looks like because what we want to do is prevent ever having to go into lockdown again."
NSW needs to get 80 per cent of its adult population vaccinated before having a conversation about what "COVID-normal" may look like, the premier said.
That's five million people receiving 10 million jabs. More than two million doses have been administered in NSW so far.
Some 149 people have contracted the coronavirus locally since June 16, when the first case was reported at Bondi in Sydney's east.
Seventeen of Tuesday's new cases were linked to previously confirmed cases, with the source of the other two still under investigation.
Both work in Sydney's eastern suburbs, the epicentre of the outbreak.
However, only seven of the new cases were in isolation for their entire infectious period, causing the number of exposure sites to balloon again.
Meanwhile, the government on Tuesday also announced financial support for small businesses hit by the lockdown.
Businesses will receive thousands of dollars in grants and the NSW Dine and Discover voucher program for state residents will be expanded.
Australian Associated Press
