Regional communities in the Southern Highlands, Southern Tablelands, South Coast and Far South Coast won't have to wait long to find out if the state-wide lockdown will be extended and if they will need travel permits.
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Deputy Premier John Barilaro said discussions on the regional lockdown would be discussed at a crisis committee meeting on Wednesday, August 18.
"We are going into a crisis committee meeting and that's where the permit system will be signed off on," he said.
"All those issues on how the Illawarra, South Coast, Central Coast and Hunter be treated in relation to the permit system is an item of discussion with a number of options in front of us."
Mr Barilaro said that before the statewide lockdown, the government had considered whether Shellharbour and Central Coast could be removed from the greater Sydney classification to a regional classification.
"Because of the recent numbers, that has been put on the shelf," he said.
"It will be part of the debate [in the crisis committee]."
When asked about delayed Covid-19 information to the media, Mr Barilaro also acknowledged that some delays were deliberately done "to make sure we don't scare communities unnecessarily."
"I'm more than happy to make sure that regional media get the updates with a breakdown at an LGA level, which is what I use at the press conference," he said.
Mr Barillaro stressed the importance of the 'Stay at Home' orders.
"The first principle is if you don't have to leave home, don't leave home," he said.
"The second principle is if you can do it within the 5 kilometres of your home please do, and if you can't you can travel right across your local government area."
Mr Barilaro also flagged the need for the community to get vaccinated.
"This recent outbreak has put a focus on the need for vaccination and the pathway to freedom is to get 80 per cent of vaccination across the State," he said.
"One of the things I am focused on is that we don't fall behind vaccination rates in the regional areas."
"We are looking for more opportunities for vaccination hubs. The Goulburn and Southern region are two of the areas, Wendy Tuckerman has been in touch with me this morning about this."
In the Southern Highlands, there have been four recorded cases of Covid-19 since July 2021.
Three Covid-19 cases were previously reported in the Southern Highland News, they were a doctor and his wife and a case in Mittagong.
No information is known for the cases detected in the 2577 postcode. The case was recorded on the NSW Health website.
There have been no cases of Covid-19 in the Far South Coast or South Coast.
A positive Covid-19 ACT worker has been reported in the Goulburn region. This person was not infectious in the community and is linked to the ACT outbreak.
Mr Barilaro said there were measures in place to protect regional NSW and ACT.
"From a regional NSW perspective you have to fill out a declaration form," he said.
Across the state, NSW recorded its worst day in the pandemic with 633 people who tested positive of Covid-19 and more than 102,000 people who got tested as of 8 pm August 17.