Hundreds of Australian Defence Force personnel will take to the streets across Sydney from today, ensuring residents across the city's COVID-19 hotspot suburbs are following the rules.
The highly-visible presence comes as the NSW Premier says the state could see an easing of lockdown restrictions when adult vaccination rates hit 50 per cent.
Around 300 troops will be helping police with compliance checks from this morning, making sure close contacts of confirmed cases are isolating at home.
READ MORE: Restaurant, medical centre and supermarket placed on Sydney exposure sites list
The ADF will be door knocking homes across all of the eight high-risk LGAs including Blacktown, Cumberland, Parramatta, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Georges River and Liverpool.
That's because a majority of the state's coronavirus cases are in those regions and authorities have the next four weeks to contain the spread of the highly infectious Delta strain.
The Navy has also been called on to help with contact tracing.
NSW recorded 239 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 yesterday to equal Thursday's record-breaking figure as the highest yet seen since the start of the pandemic.
Of the new cases, 110 are from south-west Sydney, 51 are from western Sydney, 69 are from Sydney's CBD, three are from south-east Sydney, four are from north Sydney and two are from the Blue Mountains.
Eighty cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 35 cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period.
READ MORE: Twelve Sydney aged care residents hospitalised with COVID-19
While only 26 were infectious in the community, there are still 98 cases whose isolation status is under investigation.
A nursing home in Sydney's inner-west is the latest centre of concern with 12 residents taken to hospital after being infected with COVID-19.
A female staff member at the Wyoming Nursing Home in Summer Hill, also known as Hardi Summer Hill, tested positive to the potentially deadly virus on 27 July.
The worker, who had received her first vaccination, is believed to have contracted the virus in the community and was asymptomatic while at work.
In a statement, the home said 80 per cent of the 65 residents were fully vaccinated.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian says vaccinations could be Sydney's golden ticket out of lockdown, hinting some restrictions could ease restrictions at the end of the month if jab rates increase.
The current four-week lockdown extension is due to be lifted on August 28.
READ MORE: 'Herculean task' in reaching 80 per cent vaccination rate
"Let August be the month we break records and vaccinations because that is how we get freedom," Ms Berejiklian said.
She noted that the state needed to reach 9.2 million jabs to achieve a vaccination rate of 70 per cent and more than 10 million to reach 80 per cent - the vaccination coverage required to reach the next stages of the Commonwealth government's pathway out of the pandemic.
"But we know that it is also incremental ... once we hit milestones, once you get to 50 per cent vaccination, 60 per cent, 70 per cent it obviously triggers more freedoms," Ms Berejiklian said.
As of yesterday, 19 per cent of NSW adults had been fully vaccinated.
NSW was vaccinating about 500,000 people a week but the Premier says that could be increased as more pharmacies start administrating shots and the government opens more hubs.
