COVID cases continue to grow in Sydney, with Gladys Berejiklian warning the impact of the harder lockdown will not be reflected in the numbers until at least the weekend.
The NSW Premier announced there had been 124 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, with "at least" 48 infectious in the community.
"I'm expecting case numbers to go up even higher," the premier said.
"It'll go up before it goes back down."
A new record 85,000 people were tested in NSW yesterday.
The premier said there had been some "spillover" into other local government areas in Sydney.
It comes as regions, including the Hunter, brace for the virus to leak into their communities given the continued movement of workers in and out of Sydney.
Ms Berejiklian said we would be living with "some level of restrictions" until more people were vaccinated.
Workplaces and households remained the biggest contributors to transmission.
"We can't stress enough how contagious this virus is," Ms Berejiklian said.
NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty said 67 of the new cases were linked to known cases and clusters.
There are 118 people in hospital, 28 in intensive care, with 14 requiring ventilation.
"This is a serious disease for all ages," he said.
There has been COVID outbreaks in two aged care facilities in Sydney, and another at a disability group home.
"The contact tracers are doing a fantastic job," Dr McAnulty said.
