Regional lockdown will continue until midnight September 10, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has confirmed as NSW cases hit four figures in Thursday's update.
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Ms Berejiklian said the government would offer its schools plan on Friday, but from September 13 that local government areas of concern in Sydney would be offered anhour of recreation on top of their hour of exercise - if they were vaccinated.
"A family will be able to go out and sit in the park, as long as the adults are vaccinated," Ms Berejiklian said.
Outside those areas, five people can gather outdoors as long as all adults are vaccinated.
"That five can include children, but as long as it's adults all of them will need to be vaccinated," Ms Berejiklian said. "We know that people coming together is what people miss the most."
NSW recorded 1029 new COVID cases and three deaths in the 24-hour reporting period.
Three men - aged in their 30s, 60s and 80s - from Western Sydney died in their homes.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian said hotspot LGAs now made up 80 per cent of today's cases. About 150,000 tests were conducted within the community yesterday.
Western NSW, where 35 more cases emerged in the 24 hours to 8pm Wednesday, remains a high concern, the premier said.
There are growing concerns for more regional areas, as detection of virus fragments in sewage surveillance has been made in several locations where there are no cases.
NSW Health's program has detected fragments in treatment plants in Tamworth, Merimbula, Cooma and Brewarrina.
The plants services a combined 69,000 people.
Everyone in those areas is urged to monitor for the onset of symptoms and to get tested and isolate immediately until a negative result is received.
Victoria has recorded 80 new cases of COVID of which just 39 were in isolation while infectious.