All of NSW will remain under hard lockdown until at least August 28 after the state recorded another record-breaking number of 681 COVID-19 cases.
A man in his 80s from southeast Sydney died at St George Hospital, bringing the number of COVID-related deaths to 61 since June 16.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced regional NSW would stay in lockdown "given the outbreak in western NSW and a few cases elsewhere throughout the regions".
There were 25 new local COVID-19 cases reported in western NSW to 8pm on Wednesday, taking the total for the region to 167.
"They are difficult times for all of us. The next few weeks will be hard, but no doubt that once we get those high vaccination rates life will feel much better. It will look much rosier," Ms Berejiklian said on Thursday.
Deputy Premier John Barilaro said extra cases in Wilcannia that would be counted in Friday's numbers "continue to be worrying".
The isolation status of 459 cases remains under investigation, while 463 of the known cases are from southwest and western Sydney.
"Now, one thing that's been very consistent, unfortunately, depending on how you look at it is that the high number of cases have remained in the same areas within Greater Sydney," Ms Berejiklian said.
There are 474 COVID-19 patients in hospital, with 82 in intensive care and 25 are ventilated.
Some 53 per cent of the NSW population has now received their first dose of vaccination while 28 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Deputy Police Commissioner Gary Worboys said it was terribly concerning that NSW police fined 671 people - 393 of whom were outside their home without a reasonable excuse.
As the state also revealed five new cases in the Hunter New England area, a leading epidemiologist warned daily COVID-19 case numbers could spiral into the thousands.
Professor James McCaw, who specialises in infectious disease dynamics, said daily infection numbers could skyrocket in the next month.
"Our models show the possibility of increases and decreases, but I think it's more likely to be well over 1000 and up to 2000 within a month or so," he told Nine newspapers on Thursday.
The thousands of unlinked cases mean the situation was likely to deteriorate, he said.
NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns said no one wanted a stricter lockdown "but the alternative is too grim to bear at this point".
"We can't face a prospect of 2000 daily cases. It would be too much of a stretch on our health system," he told the ABC on Thursday.
Meanwhile, elective surgeries at nearly 30 private hospitals have been suspended so staff can be redeployed to plug gaps in the public system and administer vaccines.
The state also recorded a record number of vaccinations in a single day.
Some 109,550 NSW residents received a jab on Tuesday, taking to 54 per cent the number of people over 16 who have had at least one dose.
Vaccine hubs are popping up across western and southwest Sydney, as authorities try to get 530,000 Pfizer doses into the arms of under-40s in those areas in under three weeks.
Meanwhile, the virus has continued its spread in regional NSW.
The Dharriwaa Elders Group in Walgett, which Ms Berejiklian has said is "of enormous concern", is calling for more data on rates of vaccination of Indigenous people.
