The Regional New South Wales COVID-19 lockdown has been extended until August 28.

The announcement comes as 681 new locally acquired cases were contracted in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

This is the highest number of new cases New South Wales has recorded in a day since the pandemic started.

A man in his 80s sadly lost his life and had underlying health conditions.

Murrumbidgee Local Health District has still recorded zero cases during this outbreak.

The outbreak in Western New South Wales still remains a concern with 25 new cases recorded, 20 of those new infections were in Dubbo.

There were also 3 new cases identified in Wilcannia which is a huge concern due to their large Indigenous population.

All current restrictions will remain in place until Sunday August 29 2021 at 12:01am

A reasonable excuse is if you need to:

  • obtain food or other goods and services locally
  • leave home to go to work if, you cannot reasonably work from home and the business is allowed to be open
  • leave home for education if it is not possible to do it at home
  • exercise and take outdoor recreation within your local government area or, if you need to cross into another local government area, stay within 5km of your home
  • go out for medical or caring reasons, including obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination.