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Millions of people have solemnly marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11, remembering the dead, invoking the heroes and taking stock of the aftermath just weeks after the bloody end of the Afghanistan war that was launched in response to the terror attacks.

The ceremony at ground zero in New York began exactly two decades after the deadliest act of terrorism on US soil started with the first of four hijacked planes crashing into one of the World Trade Center's twin towers.

"It felt like an evil specter had descended on our world but it was also a time when many people acted above and beyond the ordinary," said Mike Low, whose daughter Sara Low was a flight attendant on that plane.

"As we carry these 20 years forward, I find sustenance in a continuing appreciation for all of those who rose to be more than ordinary people," the father told a crowd that included US President Joe Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

The anniversary unfolded under the pall of a pandemic and in the shadow of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which is now ruled by the same Taliban militant group that hosted the 9/11 plotters.

"It's hard because you hoped that this would just be a different time and a different world. But sometimes history starts to repeat itself and not in the best of ways," Thea Trinidad, who lost her father in the attacks, said before reading victims' names at the ceremony.

Bruce Springsteen and Broadway actors Kelli O'Hara and Chris Jackson sang at the commemoration but, by tradition, no politicians spoke there.

In a video released on Friday night, Biden addressed the continuing pain of loss but also spotlighted what he called the "central lesson" of September 11: "that at our most vulnerable... unity is our greatest strength".

Biden was also paying respects at the two other sites where the 9/11 conspirators crashed the jets: the Pentagon and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Together, the attacks killed nearly 3000 people.

At the Pennsylvania site - where passengers and crew fought to regain control of a plane believed to have been targeted at the US Capitol or the White House - former president George W Bush said September 11 showed that people can come together in the US despite their differences.

"So much of our politics has become a naked appeal to anger, fear and resentment," said the president who was in office on 9/11.

"On America's day of trial and grief, I saw millions of people instinctively grab their neighbour's hand and rally to the cause of one another. That is the America know."

"It is the truest version of ourselves. It is what we have been and what we can be again."

Calvin Wilson said a polarised country has "missed the message" of the heroism of the flight's passengers and crew, which included his brother-in-law LeRoy Homer.

"We don't focus on the damage. We don't focus on the hate. We don't focus on retaliation. We don't focus on revenge," Wilson said before the ceremony.

"We focus on the good that all of our loved ones have done."

Former president Donald Trump did not join the two other past presidents at the anniversary ceremonies but visited a fire station and police precinct in New York, where he criticised his successor for the way US forces pulled out of Afghanistan last month.

Other observances - from a wreath-laying in Portland, Maine, to a fire engine parade in Guam - were planned across a country now full of 9/11 plaques, statues and commemorative gardens.

The attacks ushered in a new era of fear, war, patriotism and, eventually, polarisation.

They redefined security, changing airport checkpoints, police practises and the government's surveillance powers.

A "war on terror" led to invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the longest US war ended last month with a hasty airlift punctuated by a suicide bombing that killed 169 Afghans and 13 US service members and was attributed to a branch of the Islamic State extremist group.

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The NSW government is under pressure to back down from plans to scrap the state's daily public briefings, weeks before the COVID-19 crisis is expected to peak.

Since the current outbreak was detected, the premier, chief health officer and an array of ministers have held a press conference at 11am each day, live-streamed to tens of thousands, updating the public.

Gladys Berejiklian has announced that from Monday, the updates will be replaced by a video from NSW Health, to communicate the new case numbers and issues of the day.

"Myself and (Health Minister Brad) Hazzard or any other relevant minister will present to the community on a needs basis," she said.

With a record 1599 cases announced on Saturday, as well as eight deaths, and the impact on the state's health system not due to peak until October, state opposition leader Chris Minns says it is not the time to cut the number of briefings.

They give the community clear information on the outbreak and any restrictions, and provide a level of accountability while parliament is unable to sit, he said.

"If the premier has other priorities, that is fine, it can be fronted by the deputy premier or the treasurer or the minister for health - that's what's happened over the last 12 weeks."

"But we can't deny the fact that we are entering one of the most difficult and worrying periods of the entire pandemic."

Federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese, who lives in Sydney's inner west, also criticised the move.

"I do find it jarring that on the day in which nine deaths were announced and record numbers of infections, accountability went backwards, not forwards," he told reporters on Saturday.

But Mr Hazzard defended the government's decision.

The health team needs "clear air" to think through the COVID-19 response and reducing the frequency of the media conferences will hundreds of hours each week, he said on Saturday.

"There is a massive team of people getting ready, drawing in all the information, we then are in here probably three or four hours beforehand," he said.

"That time is taken out from the time we need to do the things you want us to do."

"We will still have press conferences ... they might not be absolutely every day."

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Premier Gladys Berejiklian has told people in NSW to stay vigilant as the state records 1262 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases and seven deaths, including a man in his 20s.

The premier said there had been some stabilisation of case numbers in the local government areas of concern but the virus was "picking up pace" in certain suburbs.

"We can't afford to let our guard down," the premier told reporters at the last press conference of its kind on Sunday.

"We cannot afford to not keep doing what we've been doing because otherwise we will see too many cases when we open up at 70 per cent double dose and that isn't what we want to see."

The daily 11am updates will from Monday be replaced by a video from NSW Health to communicate the new case numbers and concerns of the day.

The seven deaths reported in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday include a man in his 20s from western Sydney and six people from south-western Sydney in their 40s, 50s, 70s and 80s.

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the man in his 20s was unvaccinated and had significant underlying health conditions.

"However, I just want to make the point, that while you are likely to have more severe COVID if you are older and have underlying health conditions, even previously healthy people of all ages can get severe disease and die," Dr Chant said.

When asked to respond to images of people flocking to beaches in Sydney's east over the weekend, Dr Chant said it caused her "some concern" but said the reality was outdoor environments were "probably the safest" if people were social distancing.

"I would like to see that people are really respectful and they are adhering to the public health orders as they move about," she said.

There are currently 1206 COVID-19 patients in NSW in hospital, with 220 in intensive care and 92 ventilated.

Cases are expected to peak in the next week, putting significant strain on hospitals and ambulances.

By midnight on Friday 78.1 per cent of the over-16 population had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 45.6 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile state and federal opposition leaders have criticised the plan to scrap the daily live-streamed briefings weeks before the COVID-19 crisis is expected to peak in NSW.

State Opposition Leader Chris Minns says it is not the time to cut the number of briefings as the community needs accountability while parliament is unable to sit.

"We can't deny the fact that we are entering one of the most difficult and worrying periods of the entire pandemic," Mr Minns said on Saturday.

Federal Labor Leader Anthony Albanese, who lives in Sydney's inner west, also criticised the move.

"I do find it jarring that on the day in which nine deaths were announced and record numbers of infections, accountability went backwards, not forwards," he told reporters on Saturday.

But Ms Berejiklian defended the government's decision and said she would still front the media when necessary whether it was seven or three days a week.

"While there would be ample information provided on a daily basis, I will not necessarily be the one providing the information on a daily basis, and that is because, as I have said, I need a clear head," she said on Sunday.

"The next two months will be the most challenging our state has seen perhaps ever. And I need to make sure we are not only making decisions for the next day but for the next week and next month."

Elsewhere, thousands of NSW residents across the state's northeast and southwest enjoyed their second day of freedom in weeks as stay-at-home restrictions lifted on Saturday for regional centres of Coffs Harbour, Wagga Wagga and Albury.

Masks are mandatory at indoor public venues, but hospitality, retail and sporting spots have all been cleared to reopen with restrictions while rules for indoor and outdoor gatherings have been relaxed with limits.

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The future at the Gold Coast Titans looks promising, even if their season has been brought to a dramatic end by the Sydney Roosters in week one of the NRL finals.

After sneaking into the top eight by the skin of their teeth, a late Sam Walker field goal ended the young Gold Coast's 2021 season at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

A final-minute break by one of the Titan's green shoot youngsters in Beau Fermor set the scene for an unlikely upset, but Patrick Herbert's offload found touch in the dying seconds to seal their fate, going down 25-24.

Ironically, it was their attack that brought their season to an end, after bearing fruit for them all year long.

Through young representative forwards like Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, David Fifita and Moeaki Fotuaika, Gold Coast have threatened the competition's elite with their power and damaging ball running.

But a poor defensive record meant they entered the finals series with just 10 wins from 24 and a hairs breadth from missing out on a postseason for a second year in a row.

While averaging 24 points per game - the 6th-best attack in the competition - they still ended with a negative for and against after 25 rounds and then fell short of a first finals win since 2010.

"We've been doing a lot of learning as the years gone on, I thought we'd learnt enough to take better options in certain circumstances and we didn't tonight," a devastated Titans coach Justin Holbrook said after the game.

"Massive learning curve, I mean there's no harder learning curve than ending your season by a point.

"Big driving force for next year, we've got to get better and win those games."

But from their Saturday evening misery comes hope for Holbrook's side.

Fullback Jayden Campbell, 21, playing in just his seventh NRL game proved he's an emerging star, and will contest the No.1 jumper in 2022.

Injured teammate and first choice fullback AJ Brimson looks likely to slot into the halves alongside Jamal Fogarty, with Ash Taylor set to depart the club.

Million dollar man David Fifita scored 17 tries, the most in a season for the club, and at just 21 years of age willed them to their first finals appearance in five years.

And in Fa'asuamaleaui, Fermor and Foutaika, their ferocity in midfield and development this year should see them go into 2022 brimming with confidence.

Dealt a tough lesson on Saturday night in Townsville, exciting times await the Titans as they come to terms with what could've been in 2021.

© AAP 2021