Received

Canberra's lockdown has been extended for another month as the ACT records 22 new coronavirus infections.

Of Tuesday's cases, 14 were linked with just two in quarantine the whole time while infectious.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr confirmed the lockdown would be extended for another four weeks until October 15.

It was previously extended twice and had been scheduled to run until midnight this Friday.

Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman advised the government against lifting lockdown because of the continuing public health risk in the ACT and surrounds.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said return of NSW's Yass Valley Council to lockdown factored into the decision.

"This is a tough and challenging period for everyone," he told reporters.

"It's not a choice between a good option, and a bad option, it's a choice in terms of what's the least worst option available to governments."

To soften the blow in the ACT, some restrictions will be tweaked from this weekend.

Limited private real estate inspections will be allowed, alongside additional outdoor recreation such as golf and tennis.

Year 12 students who had priority access to vaccinations are slated to return to class on October 5. Year 11 students will follow two weeks later.

Canberra has 252 active infections, with the reproductive rate of the virus sitting about one.

This means each person infected is expected to pass the disease onto one other person on average.

"I do know that this is hard and that people have had to make many sacrifices, and that the lack of connection with family and friends has made this lockdown incredibly difficult," Dr Coleman said.

"We want to make sure that we don't undo all the good work that the community has done to get us in this position."

© AAP 2021

NSW has reported 1127 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and two deaths, including a man in his 50s and a woman in her 80s.

Most of NSW is locked down and police are cracking down on compliance measures as authorities battle to contain the spread of the virulent Delta strain.

The two deaths - both in western Sydney - take the toll for the current NSW outbreak to 186, and 242 for the entirety of the pandemic.

There are 1253 COVID-19 patients in NSW in hospital, with 231 in intensive care and 104 on ventilators.

"Cases continue to be primarily at highest rates in western and southwestern Sydney, although throughout Greater Sydney and regions we are seeing cases," NSW Health's Jeremy McAnulty told reporters.

Residents in NSW have been told to brace for a peak in COVID-19 case numbers this week, while the regional town of Yass is back in lockdown.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Monday denied the unvaccinated would have their freedoms restored at 80 per cent double-dose vaccination coverage in NSW, saying details were still being finalised.

At 70 per cent double-dose coverage, expected to happen in about a month, the fully vaccinated will have several freedoms restored allowing for household visits, gatherings and hospitality.

More than 46 per cent of people over 16 are currently fully jabbed.

The premier will on Tuesday meet with the mayors from the 12 Sydney local governments areas with the toughest restrictions after previous requests to link up with the group were rejected.

Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour says he has been "trying for weeks to meet with her to raise issues ranging from curfews, to more vaccines and financial support".

"Beaches are open but our pools are shut. Under the current health orders council pools are NOT allowed to open," he posted on Facebook.

President of the Lebanese Muslim Association Samier Dandan said the "empty rhetoric of togetherness" was evident last weekend.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro will also meet with regional mayors.

Meanwhile, the state government has announced an additional $287.5 million in COVID-19 financial support to help workers and vulnerable communities in metropolitan, regional and rural NSW.

The funding will see COVID-19 emergency hardship payments, test and isolate support payments and community empowerment grants expanded across all of NSW.

Meanwhile, up to five fully vaccinated adults who live outside the 12 Sydney COVID-19 hotspot areas can now gather outdoors within five kilometres of their homes.

Vaccinated households that live in the 12 local government areas of concern can gather outdoors for recreation for two hours, outside curfew hours, and within five kilometres of home.

But this no longer applies to Yass Valley Council area in the Southern Tablelands which has gone back into lockdown following a positive COVID-19 case, three days after restrictions were eased.

© AAP 2021

The Queensland government won't make any last minute changes to its proposed voluntary-assisted dying law.

Instead, it will work with faith-based care providers who object to the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill to draw up clinical guidelines to protect them from taking part in the system.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles will lead a parliamentary debate on Tuesday on the proposed law, which would allow terminally-ill people to end their lives.

He will tell them a set of clear clinical guidelines will provide certainty for faith-based providers and other objectors.

"The government is not proposing amendments and I urge members not to support amendments," Mr Miles will tell parliament.

"However, faith-based institutions deliver services that are valued by Queenslanders.

"Mater and St Vincent's in particular are respected and important contributors to our health system and society.

"We respect and acknowledge their faith and the concerns they have raised.

"In recognition of these concerns and the valued place of these institutions in our society the government wants to provide further comfort to them regarding how the law will apply in practice in their institutions during the implementation phase."

Under the VAD bill, people seeking help to die must have either a disease, illness or medical condition that is advanced, progressive and terminal.

Their condition must be expected to cause their death within a year and it must be causing "intolerable" suffering.

People must also be assessed by two doctors, having made three separate requests for help to die.

Faith-based providers will not be obligated to administer euthanasia drugs.

However, they would have to allow independent doctors to help patients end their lives if they were unable to be moved to other facilities.

Catholic providers like St Vincent's Health and Mater Health are concerned staff could witness premature deaths.

Providers also warned that outside doctors wouldn't have to give forewarning before entering their premises to help end the lives of their patients.

But Mr Miles said clinical guidelines will set out how staff cannot be forced to participate in the voluntary assisted dying process.

It will set out how patients can be safely transferred to other facilities and detail how external doctors should engage objecting providers before entering their premises.

The guidelines would also set out how to afford patients privacy and limit any impacts on other residents.

The major parties have granted their MPs conscience votes on the bill.

The bill needs a majority of 47 votes in Queensland's 93-seat parliament to pass into law. There is no upper house in Queensland.

Mr Miles, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath and Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman support the proposed law.

Another 39 MPs support the bill, including three Liberal National Party MPs, two Greens and independent Sandy Bolton.

However, 13 LNP MPs including Deputy Opposition Leader David Janetzki and three Katter's Australian Party MPs will oppose the bill.

Another 22 MPs, including Opposition Leader David Crisafulli and Treasurer Cameron Dick, are yet to publicly reveal their stance.

© AAP 2021