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The Queensland government will commit a further $70 million towards targeted economic support for hospitality and tourism operators affected by the state's lockdowns.

Announced on Tuesday, it will cover a range of initiatives including payroll tax referrals, refunding fees and charges for affected businesses and waiving or reducing liquor licensing fees.

Treasurer Cameron Dick says the government has been working with stakeholders and industry leaders to formulate an economic plan to keep struggling businesses afloat.

"We obviously want to help businesses get back on their feet as soon as possible to rebound as soon as possible and every Queenslander can play a role there," he said on Tuesday.

For the 2021/22 financial year, Mr Dick says the government will waive or refund all liquor licensing fees for tourism and hospitality businesses to an expected benefit of $22 million.

They will also extend $5000 business support grants to large tourism and hospitality businesses across the state.

A further $20 million has been set aside for a COVID-10 cleaning rebate with the government paying 80 per cent of small and medium sized business costs if they are a COVID-19 exposed site, with the costs coverable extending up to $10,000.

"This package has been tailored to best meet industry's needs," the treasurer said.

"This is about our government flexing in response to what COVID is doing to businesses and to our economy.

"We're going to do everything we can to keep our economy moving forward and support those businesses across Queensland.

While the extra support is pleasing, opposition treasury spokesman David Janetzki said the government should be more strategic in it's approach instead of "managing this crisis day-to-day".

"What we need is the delivery of these funds, for there not to be a set application opening date on the website yet, one week after the (previous) package was announced, is not good enough," he said on Tuesday.

"We need the money out the door because businesses are under pressure right now."

The opposition leader also took aim at the previously announced support package that promised $5000 to eligible businesses.

"A sole trader who makes 74 grand a year, she's entitled to nothing, someone who makes 76 grand a year is entitled to $5000, and someone who employs 20 people is entitled to $5000," he said.

"That's the absurdity of when you have a package that's cobbled together, you don't iron those things out."

Tuesday's support package also includes a 12-month deferral of state lease fees for tourism operators, 12-months of fee waivers of inbound tour operator fees and a 2021-22 financial year offset for berthing fees for marine tourism vessels at privately owned or privately operated marinas in eligible Local Government Areas.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the additional business support will assist in alleviating the burden posed by international and domestic border closures and lockdowns.

"From the south-east last week to the Far North right now, Queenslanders experiencing lockdowns are doing an incredible job to keep us all safe," the Premier said.

"We want to make sure that we're providing that extra assistance to businesses out there that are doing it tough."

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NSW has reported a record 356 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 and at least 97 of those people were circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.

Four people have also died - a man in his 70s, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 80s, as well as a returned traveller in his 80s unlinked to the current outbreak. All were unvaccinated.

Greater Sydney and surrounding regions are in lockdown until at least August 28, as health authorities battle to contain an outbreak of the virulent Delta strain.

The NSW Hunter, Byron Bay, Armidale and Tamworth areas are also currently enduring snap lockdowns.

"We know NSW is going through challenging times but we also know vaccination is a key tool in reducing the spread and preventing hospitalisation," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.

"It's so sad when you hear about deaths especially of elderly people who unfortunately for whatever reason weren't vaccinated."

The death toll from the current outbreak now sits at 32. There are 60 COVID-19 patients in NSW in intensive care, with 28 ventilated.

More than 80 per cent of the NSW population is currently in lockdown as the state struggles to curb the spread of the Delta COVID-19 strain.

About 6,571,800 residents have been placed into lockdown.

Byron Bay and surrounding local government areas in northern NSW entered a snap seven-day lockdown from 6pm on Monday after a man from Sydney travelled there about a week ago and subsequently tested positive.

Byron Shire mayor Michael Lyon said locals feared an outbreak and there was no record of venues the man had visited.

"What we do know is he hadn't been checking in anywhere, hasn't used QR codes, hasn't been self-isolating when he got sick, he didn't get tested until he was really sick," he told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant will be quizzed at a parliamentary inquiry on Tuesday about their handling of the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Ms Berejiklian has set a goal of six million vaccinations by the end of August in order to consider easing lockdown settings. About 4.5 million jabs have been administered so far.

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NSW has recorded yet another record daily number of COVID-19 cases, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian insists she won't introduce harsher lockdown measures unless they have a proven impact on transmission of the virus.

NSW reported 356 new local cases of COVID-19 and at least 97 of those people were circulating in the community while infectious.

Four people have also died - a man in his 70s, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 80s, as well as a returned traveller in his 80s unlinked to the current outbreak. All were unvaccinated.

Infection numbers in NSW have remained stubbornly high despite an increasingly tight lockdown, particularly in Sydney's west and southwest.

Sydney and surrounds are in lockdown until at least August 28, while the Hunter, Byron Bay, Armidale and Tamworth are in snap lockdowns.

Ms Berejiklian said her government would be glad to consider further measures to limit movement and interaction, but few remained that were proven to reduce virus transmission.

Curfews were listed among this category.

She said that, given the virulence of the Delta variant and its prevalence among essential workers obliged to leave home, a focus on the rapid vaccination of locked-down communities was preferable.

However, compliance with health orders remains problematic.

It comes after a virus-positive Sydney man travelled to Byron Bay against the rules and purportedly refused to use QR code check-ins. The incident has sent the northern rivers region into its lockdown.

"Policy positions that may have worked in the past aren't going to have effect with Delta, it's something we need to accept," the premier said on Tuesday.

"Short of not having authorised workers do what's necessary, it's really difficult to get to lower cases without that targeted vaccine strategy.

"Delta is different, we need to treat it differently, and NSW doesn't have any intention of putting in strategies that aren't going to work.

"If we thought they'd have a significant or even marginal impact, of course we'd do those things, but there is no evidence to suggest that."

More than 80 per cent of the NSW population is now in lockdown as the state struggles to curb the spread of the Delta strain.

The death toll from the current outbreak now sits at 32. There are 60 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, with 28 ventilated.

Ms Berejiklian again said her government's aspiration remained "COVID zero", as per national cabinet, but also that NSW would consider partially easing restrictions once it reaches six million vaccinations.

About 4.5 million jabs have been administered so far.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday said he wanted all Australians around the dinner table with their families on Christmas Day.

"We have one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID and we want to be able to continue to achieve that as best as we possibly can as we continue through this suppression phase," Mr Morrison said.

"That's why there aren't any shortcuts to lockdowns."

Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant also revealed four of the eight residents at St George Aged Care Centre have caught COVID-19 from a staff member. All eight residents were fully vaccinated.

While locked-down Armidale and Tamworth have not recorded new virus cases, Dr Chant said new infections were uncovered in the Hunter. A case unlinked to the travelling Sydney man was also found in Byron Bay.

"Once you've got that force of infection, it's really hard to turn it around ... that's why I think we all need to redouble our efforts," Dr Chant said.

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Sarah, Duchess of York has revealed she is brushing up on her flying skills in preparation for a television show to be filmed in Australia.

Sarah said she will be piloting a helicopter in the program that will feature her talking to residents about the country's culture and natural world.

Interviewed in the latest edition of Saga magazine published this week, the duchess said: "I'm working on a screen venture that is a bit like Challenge Anneka, if you remember that 1990s BBC reality program. Mine will be called Duchess Down Under.

"Instead of being in the helicopter, as Anneka was, I'll be flying it - I'm retaking my helicopter test and renewing my licence. I'll be talking to people in Australia about the culture, the flora and fauna of their nation."

The duchess has published her debut Mills & Boon novel and hopes it will be adapted into a TV drama because "everything that's written she can already see," her co-author has said.

The Duke of York's ex-wife described the book - Her Heart For A Compass - as a "sweeping, fabulous, historical novel" set in the 1870s and said her heroine Lady Margaret is "a very rebellious lady".

The book, which draws on Sarah's own life journey and incorporates research into her ancestry, is a fictional account of the life of the duchess's great-great-aunt Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas-Scott.

Sarah co-wrote the book with Marguerite Kaye, who has written more than 50 novels for Mills & Boon set in a variety of historical eras.

During an appearance on ITV's Loose Women, Sarah described how she and Diana, Princess of Wales would discuss the impact of being in the public eye.

She told the presenters: "I do address the eating disorder issue with Lady Margaret in the book. Diana and I used to talk about it a lot, what it is to be on the front pages and people judging about the size you are.

"I speak openly that it's okay, just be who you are, keep fighting on and don't give up. I'm still a work in progress, too."

Talking about who would play her novel's lead male, Sarah said: "I think Colin Firth is just phenomenal as Darcy... coming out of the lake. I love James Norton but Aidan Turner takes the top spot for me. I thought he was brilliant as Leonardo and Poldark."

© PAA 2021