NSW to announce eased restrictions despite 919 cases

NSW has reached a  new Covid-19 record, with 919 new infections confirmed in the 24 hours to 8pm last night. It is the highest daily number ever recorded in Australia since the pandemic began.

Despite the high case numbers, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said new freedoms for fully vaccinated NSW residents could be announced as early as tomorrow as vaccination rates continued to be the most important number in terms of the easing of restrictions.

"As soon as we had all those milestones, we will have those extra freedoms. We're looking forward as a team to announce tomorrow or the day after what those are for those who are fully vaccinated," she said.

"When you get 70 per cent double dose, as the Doherty report states, you start to transition into talking about the rate of hospitalisation, not the number of cases. The number of cases becomes less relevant.

"Don't get me wrong. Every day we want to see case numbers go down, not up.

"Moving forward the most important number for us is how many people are protected and have that suit of armour because we know that keep people out of hospital."

Of today's new cases, 106 were in isolation throughout their infectious period,18 were in isolation for part of their infectious period and 37 cases were infectious in the community. The isolation status of 758 cases remains under investigation.

The state also recorded two new deaths, a woman in her 30s in Sydney's west which was announced earlier and a man in his 80s from Sydney's north.

The NSW government will hold a cabinet meeting today to decide which restrictions will ease now that the state has reached six million vaccinations, with nail salons and hairdressers likely to be among some of the first retailers to open.

There are currently 645 COVID cases in hospital with 113 of those in intensive care.