Another NSW region could be forced into lockdown after a case of COVID-19 emerged at Dubbo West Public School in the state's central west.
The Department of Education was advised by NSW Health late on Tuesday of the case and the school has been closed, while staff and students are being asked to isolate and get tested if they have symptoms.
The development has sparked speculation the region will be the next to get locked down as the Delta variant of the virus spreads west from Greater Sydney.
Around 38,000 people living in Dubbo and surrounding areas are on high alert and have been urged to get tested and limit their movements after authorities found fragments of the virus in Dubbo and nearby Mudgee over the weekend.
More than six million people in Sydney and surrounds are now in lockdown until at least 28 August, with the Hunter, Byron Bay, Armidale and Tamworth areas also enduring snap lockdowns.
Fennel Bay Public School at Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle is also closed on Wednesday after a student tested positive to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the NSW government is being urged to introduce vaccine passports after the state notched up another record number of daily COVID-19 cases.
The Committee for Sydney says vaccine passports will allow the community to open up safely.
"In this new phase of the pandemic, people may have the right not to be vaccinated, but they shouldn't have the right to put others in danger," deputy chief executive Ehssan Veiszadeh said in a statement.
"There is no reason why vaccine passports shouldn't start being used now across industries that are already open, such as in retail settings and essential workplaces."
Meanwhile, construction workers can now leave their high-risk coronavirus areas to work if they comply with vaccination requirements.
NSW reported 356 new local cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday, 97 of which were circulating in the community while infectious.
Four people also died, bringing the death toll from the current outbreak to 32.
New venues of close-contact concern were added overnight in Bangalow, including Foodworks and a pharmacy while a significant number of bus services in Sydney's inner west have been cancelled after two staff members at the Leichhardt depot tested positive to COVID-19.
Transport for NSW says the majority of depot staff are casual contacts who must isolate.
There are 349 COVID-19 patients in hospital, including 67 in intensive care and 28 who are ventilated.
Concern for another NSW region after COVID-19 case detected at local school - SBS News
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