NSW COVID update, August 30: Three Newcastle and Hunter infections as Premier Gladys Berejiklian announces 1290 cases

Anyone who attended the following venues on the specified dates and times are casual contacts (unless they have been contacted by NSW Health as close contacts) and must get tested and isolate until a negative test result is received:

Cessnock Day Night Pharmacy (202 Wollombi Road, Cessnock) was announced on Sunday as an exposure site. Anyone who attended the pharmacy on Friday, August 27 from 6.13pm to 6.30pm is a casual contact and must get tested and isolate until a negative result its received.

The Cessnock Hospital testing clinic is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4.30pm and weekends from 8am to noon. Appointments are essential on 4964 7497.

The Laverty Pathology testing clinic on Mount View Road is open 7.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday, and 7.30am to 12pm Saturdays. No appointment is required.

THREE fresh Hunter COVID cases have been recorded as NSW inched close to 1300 cases in the latest daily update.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there were 1290 cases in the community, with 80 per cent of those in southwestern Sydney, and warned that October loomed as the peak of pressure on the state's hospitals.

Beyond Sydney, though, she said there were promising signs.

"There's stabilisation across regional and rural NSW," she said.

Western NSW was the exception to regional NSW's performance, Ms Berejiklian said, with the outbreak in that area continuing to pose concerns.

Nine cases were recorded in the far west - seven in Wilcannia and two in Broken Hill.

Two of the Hunter cases fall within Lake Macquarie local government area, with the third in Cessnock's.

Both the Cessnock case and a patient from Whitebridge were infectious in the community, while investigations are ongoing on whether the Edgeworth case was isolated or not.

In the Hunter seven people are in hospital, with one requiring intensive care.

As reported earlier, Cessnock Day Night Pharmacy was announced as an exposure site after a positive case attended the pharmacy on Friday. No further exposure sites have been announced this morning.

Cessnock prison is also locked down after several inmates at Parklea tested positive.

WHERE TO GET TESTED:

Four people died across NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm Sunday, including a man in his 50s from Dubbo.

A man in 70s died at Westmead, while a man in his 70s from the inner west died at Concord Hospital after acquiring his infection in aged care.

A woman in her 60s also died at Westmead.

NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant did not immediately specify their vaccination status, but noted the Dubbo man and man in his 70s who died at Westmead had "significant underlying health issues".

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Ms Berejiklian said that "life will be much better at 70 per cent if you're vaccinated", but noted the main reason to receive the vaccination was to avoid severe symptoms that could require hospitalisation.

"We anticipate that the worst month for our intensive care will be October," she said.

"Every day that we get closer to meeting those vaccination targets means that the pressure on our hospital system and ICU will decrease, which is what we need.

"The most important numbers we look at at the moment are how many of those case numbers require hospitalisation and how many need intensive care."

The Monday update is a welcome sign for the Hunter after numbers rose faster on the weekend.

Cases in the Hunter New England health district grew by seven in Sunday's update, spread across suburbs including Birmingham Gardens and Adamstown Heights, Thornton, Raymond Terrace and Cessnock.