Covid Sydney: 140 suburbs on alert as 'areas of concern'
About 140 suburbs are on alert as new coronavirus cases spread further across Sydney.
NSW reported 97 new locally acquired cases on Wednesday as it announced a two-week extension to the current lockdown.
As the virus continues to grow, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said health authorities were hoping to drive down the number of people infectious in the community to as close to zero as possible.
Of the new cases, Ms Berejiklian said 24 were out and about while infectious.
"That is the number ... we need to get down to as close to zero as possible before we can end the lockdown and I really want to make that point clear," she told reporters on Wednesday.
Ms Berejiklian said the government was keeping an eye on the Canterbury-Bankstown and Liverpool areas, but with 70 cases in Fairfield alone, the premier revealed about 140 other suburbs of concern.
“The (other) areas of concern are Fairfield local government area, as well as Roselands, Rosebery, Canterbury, Belmore, Sutherland Shire, the St George area, Windsor, St Ives, Penrith and the Bayside local government area," she added.
NSW Health said 61 of the new cases were linked to a known case or cluster while 45 were household contacts and 16 close contacts.
There are 36 cases under investigation with the source of infection unclear.
Of the new cases, 70 were from the South Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD), 14 were from the South Eastern Sydney LHD, five were from the Sydney LHD, four were from the Western Sydney LHD, two are from the Northern Sydney LHD and a further two are from the Nepean Blue Mountains LHD.
About 65,000 tests were conducted in the 24 hours to 8pm while 20 people remain in ICU.
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