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At least 80 per cent of Saturday’s new cases were located in the south-west and western Sydney hotspot areas. Four new cases were recorded in the state’s far west in Wilcannia,and another 42 in were recorded in western NSW.

The number of patients in hospital climbed to 778,of which 125 were in intensive care,with 52 requiring ventilation. Among those in intensive care is an ICU nurse from Westmead Hospital who was fully vaccinated.

Deputy Chief Health Officer Jeremy McAnulty said it highlighted the need for the community to get vaccinated to help protect front-line workers.

“The vaccine is very effective in reducing severe disease,but it’s not 100 per cent,” he said.

NSW Ambulance paramedics came into contact with 2500 COVID-19 patients in the past week,with 450 confirmed or suspected Delta cases on Friday alone.

The Delta outbreak continued to grow on Saturday. Victoria reported 64 new locally acquired cases,while there were 26 new cases in the Australian Capital Territory. Across the Tasman,New Zealand reported 82 new cases,all of them in Auckland.

Mr Hazzard defended a late-night rule change on Friday that means authorised workers in hotspots who need to leave their LGA for work must receive their first vaccine dose by September 6. Rapid antigen testing will no longer be an alternative to vaccination.

Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce apologised for a glitch that saw thousands of appointments for children cancelled.Credit:Rhett Wyman

The deadline marks a one-week extension to the mandatory vaccination requirement after unions and peak bodies argued many workers were unable to get first dose appointments until next month.

Mr Hazzard said it wasn’t practical for smaller businesses to arrange rapid antigen testing because the federal government advisory body required all antigen testing be done under clinical supervision.

“The rapid antigen testing can still be accommodated through the COVID-safe plans,but the preferred alternative is to have people vaccinated,” he said.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey said rapid antigen testing was a powerful tool,but businesses were weeks if not months away from being able to support such a system.

“The decision to defer is common sense and very welcome,but this should be Medicare-funded and available in pharmacies,medical centres and other health settings in the meantime,” he said.

Labor leader Chris Minns said there had been 45 changes to public health orders since the lockdown began in June,and after 10 weeks,more consistency and clearer messaging were needed.

“There needs to be a plan released to the people of this state that explicitly spells out what is expected in the coming weeks and months,” he said.

Mr Hazzard warned that despite the resumption of weddings from Friday with a maximum of five guests (plus officials),“bringing large groups of people and your friends together at the present time is dangerous”.

The Health Minister also addressed misinformation on social media regarding supposed negative effects of vaccinations on women wishing to have children. There was no medical evidence for this,he said,however there were risks for women wanting children if they did contract COVID-19.

NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce,who is managing the state’s vaccine rollout,debunked social media posts claiming 100,000 Pfizer doses were set to expire on August 31,saying such posts were “absolutely,categorically” false.

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