NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian admits her state may never again reach COVID-zero as the number of daily infections continues to rise.
NSW reported a record 291 new locally-acquired cases of COVID-19 on Friday, with at least 96 of those in the community while infectious.
A woman in her 60s is the latest person to die from the virus, taking the toll of the current coronavirus outbreak to 23. She was unvaccinated.
The woman was infected by a health care worker at Liverpool Hospital last week while she was being treated for a kidney problem. It's the second death connected with the outbreak at the hospital.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Friday warned the escalation in daily infections would continue in the coming days.
She all but conceded the state would not reach her earlier target of zero cases circulating in the community.
Ms Berejiklian said the case numbers and behaviour of the Delta variant meant it was "pretty obvious" that "we now have to live with Delta one way or another".
"It's obviously a challenge for us to get down to (zero), but that has to be our aspiration," she told reporters.
The premier again pointed to vaccination as a way out of the outbreak.
"The more people we get vaccinated, the sooner we will be able to live more freely," Ms Berejiklian told reporters.
She said life on August 29 - when Greater Sydney's lockdown is scheduled to lift - would be a reflection of how many people had been vaccinated and the case numbers.
"Once we have the 70 per cent vaccination rates, life will be much easier and of course once we hit 80 per cent, life will be as normal as we can expect during COVID," she said.
More than 44 per cent of NSW residents over 16 have been jabbed at least once.
Case numbers are flattening in Fairfield, the erstwhile epicentre of the outbreak.
But they are rising rapidly in the Canterbury-Bankstown local government area. That area will now endure a greater police presence to ensure lockdown compliance.
Twelve staff members at a KFC outlet in Punchbowl have tested positive for the virus. It's been listed as a close contact venue for the seven-day period to Monday.
Meanwhile, all trial exams for Year 12 students in Sydney will be moved online. Students in the eight local government areas seeing a higher caseload will be barred from the classroom until further notice.
The council areas in question are Blacktown, Campbelltown, Canterbury-Bankstown, Cumberland, Fairfield, Georges River, Liverpool and Parramatta.
Year 12 students elsewhere will be able to re-enter the classroom for specific activities on August 16.
The government hopes to vaccinate about 24,000 final year students at the Qudos Bank Arena at Olympic Park from next week.
There are 50 patients in NSW in intensive care, with 22 ventilated.
Only six ICU patients have had any dose of the vaccine, and none are fully vaccinated.
Two of the new cases were identified in the Newcastle area, which along with the Hunter was sent into a seven-day snap lockdown on Thursday.
There were no new cases in the Central Coast, which reported eight cases the previous day.
NSW Labor on Friday said the government should provide more "Dine and Discover" hospitality vouchers to those who get the jab.
© AAP 2021