Three more people in NSW have died after contracting coronavirus including a resident at a western Sydney aged care home where a staff member unknowingly caused an outbreak.
A 93-year-old male who had tested positive to COVID-19 died this morning at the Newmarch House in Caddens, according to facility operator Anglicare.
He had multiple serious health issues and his cause of death will be confirmed in coming days, Anglicare said.
Thirty residents and staff at the facility have tested positive to coronavirus after an employee, who later tested positive, worked six consecutive shifts with symptoms.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard also confirmed an 83-year-old Queensland man, who was a passenger on the Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship, died at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital overnight.
A 58-year-old woman also died at Tamworth Hospital but the source of her infection is still unknown.
The state's death toll is now 29.
"On behalf of the entire NSW community, I want to express my sympathy, and the community's sympathy, to the families of those two people," Mr Hazzard said.
In the last 24 hours, 10 new infections were confirmed, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 2,936, with half of those in people under 40.
Yesterday 5,152 people across NSW were tested for COVID-19, which Mr Hazzard lauded as a "dramatic" increase compared to the 1,305 tests undertaken six days ago.
"I am so proud of the community for coming forward but also our health staff and pathology staff who together have ensured that New South Wales leads the entire country in terms of the numbers of testing," he said.
But NSW Police say some people in the community still have not got the message and continue to breach social distancing rules, putting themselves and others at risk.
Many repeat offenders have been identified, Assistant Commissioner Webb said.
"We have found that people who have already been warned a number of times are now being detected and they will be, and continue to be, fined."
This afternoon, Mr Hazzard issued a terse warning to those in the 20-29 age bracket, who have recorded the highest number of infections in NSW, to stop congregating in large groups and take the pandemic seriously.
"You have got to get the message, guys, this is not the time to be partying," he said.
Meanwhile, nine additional coronavirus infections have been confirmed among the crew members of the Ruby Princess cruise ship, which remains docked at Port Kembla, near Wollongong.
Crew members were told the ship would depart tomorrow but NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Karen Webb said that was now a "remote" possibility and estimated they wouldn't be ready to sail until the end of next week.
Testing of the approximately 1,000 crew members has still not been completed, with 162 returning positive results to date.
"We are putting the health of the crew first … we are yet to get to a point where we can say that the crew are well enough to travel," she said.
There have been 21 passenger deaths linked to the ship and a family in the US is suing Princess Cruises for more than $US1 million ($1.6 million) for "recklessly" failing to alert passengers to the risk of coronavirus.
Today, the NSW Government announced an additional $25 million for coronavirus research at universities, hospitals and medical institutes across the state.
Kirby Institute program head Anthony Kelleher said significant strides had already been made in NSW when it came to tracking how the virus moves through communities and how people's immune systems respond over time.
He said it was vital researchers continued to track cohorts of patients to better understand who is more likely to need greater medical intervention.
"The bar for medical research has been set very high by the public health response and by the community response to those health messages," Professor Kelleher said.
