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An intensive care nurse working in one of NSW's worst COVID-19 hotspots says the virus is "ripping families apart" and taking an enormous physical and emotional toll on healthcare workers.

More than 870 COVID-19 patients are in hospital in NSW, with 143 in intensive care. Liverpool Hospital nurse manager Michelle Dowd is one of the frontline workers trying to keep them alive.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, when another 1164 cases were reported, Ms Dowd said COVID-19 patients coming into her ICU are "some of the sickest we've ever seen".

Among them are entire family groups facing tragic circumstances, she said.

"We've had parents - both parents - of young children so sick that they need to be ventilated in our intensive care unit and separated from their children.

"Sometimes they don't have extended family to look after these children, or the extended family is also so sick that we need to make alternative care arrangements.

"This virus is literally ripping families apart."

Ms Dowd's hospital is located within one of the areas hardest hit by the current outbreak.

More than 1700 people in the Liverpool local government area, in Sydney's southwest, have been diagnosed with the virus.

But on top of managing a higher caseload and some of the sickest patients they've ever seen, ICU nurses have been left to provide emotional support for dying patients in the absence of visitors.

"In the worst cases, at the end of life, we'll connect a call with the family and hold the patient's hands and provide as much care and comfort and support as we possibly can," she said.

"We know this is really hard for families. This is really hard for us as well."

The emotional toll is huge, but looking after COVID patients is physically very hard work too, she said.

"They require so much support and monitoring and physical care. We're in layers of PPE, sometimes for hours at a time."

Healthcare workers are doing their best to help those who contract the virus, but the community must help them by getting vaccinated, Ms Dowd said.

"Help us as your frontline healthcare workers to keep patients out of hospital," she pleaded.

"By getting vaccinated you don't just protect yourself, you protect your family, your friends, strangers ... you will help us to save lives."

© AAP 2021

Two soldiers have died after becoming trapped in their crashed vehicle in a remote part of north Queensland.

Police were called to the scene of a single vehicle crash on Dotswood Rd at Dotswood, near Charters Towers, about 1:45pm on Monday.

Officers and firefighters found the soldiers unconscious and trapped in the vehicle, and they later died at the scene.

The police forensic crash unit is investigating the accident.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton told federal parliament there were significant personnel and assets around the Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.

"It is a very dangerous task that our troops are involved in, even during training exercises, and the movement of equipment up and down our national highways," Mr Dutton said.

"That's very sad news for our country to learn and our condolences and thoughts are with their friends and family."

Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, said supporting the families and friends of the two soldiers was his highest priority.

"This is a tragic accident and our deepest sympathies go to the families and loved ones of our soldiers," he said in a statement.

Lt Gen Burr said the names of the dead soldiers from the Brisbane-based 7th Combat Brigade would not be released at this time.

He said Defence was working with Queensland Police to investigate the cause of the accident.

© AAP 2021

The lead guitarist of INXS "freaked out" when his hand became trapped in a boat anchor mechanism, hacking off one finger, mangling others and ending his career.

Tim Farriss's reattached ring finger is said to be "useless" after the accident aboard a boat the musician hired in 2015 to celebrate his and his wife Beth's wedding anniversary.

He's suing the boat's owners in the NSW Supreme Court for negligence, alleging they failed in their duty to maintain the boat, warn him of the risk and properly instruct him.

His claim for damages includes pain and suffering.

"I've had nightmares about both hands being dragged into the winch, I've had nightmares about my feet being dragged into the winch," the Perth-born Sydneysider said.

When trying to set anchor in Akuna Bay in Sydney's north, he described battling an anchor chain "prone to 'kinks'" and a winch that repeatedly stopped.

"It came with quite a lot of speed, not a lot of fluid motion ... it came up almost as if it had slack sometimes ... it was jumpy," the 64-year-old told the court.

While he troubleshot the issues, the winch restarted "suddenly and to my surprise".

It drew the chain up and "somehow" grabbed the then-57-year-old's left hand which was just above the chain, between the bow and the chain wheel (also known as a gypsy).

"I freaked out," Farriss said.

"Somehow, I managed to grab the chain forward of the gypsy with my right arm and - I have no idea how I was able to do it - I pulled the chain up and pulled the boat into the wind, and released my left hand from the gypsy."

The guitarist - who described his marine vessel experience before hiring the boat as "extensive" - believed the winch was off at the time, though admitted he didn't have much experience with winches.

He testified his feet were well away from two foot-operated buttons that moved the anchor chain up and down.

But the defendants challenge that assertion, relying on an attending ambulance officer's case note that Farriss' "foot accidentally touched the foot pedal" as he tried to untangle the chain.

Farriss denied the note was true or that he was its source, suggesting the paramedic made an assumption.

Church Point Charter and Shipping and its owners, John and Jill Axford, also dispute the claim that the anchor chain and its motor were damaged.

"There is no doubt there was - as with every machinery - a risk of harm," barrister John Turnbull SC said.

"But not to someone acting reasonably."

The defendants challenge Farriss's claim for past and future economic losses, arguing fellow founding INXS member John Farriss said in 2012 the band was "very likely" to never play another tour.

While having no immediate plans for the next tour, the comments "shocked" Farriss, who asked his brother "what on earth he was doing".

"You never finish a tour with plans for the next tour," he said.

"I had envisaged (touring) for the rest of my life."

Farriss gave evidence from a home office adorned with INXS memorabilia and is expected to resume detailing the incident's aftermath on Tuesday morning.

His barrister said his client's career and his ability to compose music was ended when the finger was severed.

"It is useless," Adrian Williams said.

"He is unsurprisingly depressed."

The hearing is expected to run until Friday.

© AAP 2021