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Residents in NSW have been urged to get vaccinated as the state's COVID-19 cases continue to spread across households, around workplaces and into aged care facilities.

There were 239 locally acquired cases recorded in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, 115 linked to a known case or cluster while 92 are household contacts and 23 are close contacts. The source of infection for 124 cases is under investigation.

NSW Health's Dr Jeremy McAnulty confirmed that four of the 14 people who have died in this current outbreak did so in their homes and not at a hospital.

The 14th death, recorded on Saturday, was a man in his 60s who died at home in southwest Sydney.

"The message is don't wait, if you have any even mild symptoms, come forward for testing right away," Dr McAnulty said. "Don't wait."

There are currently 222 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital in NSW. Of these, 54 people are in intensive care, 25 of whom require ventilation.

Dr McAnulty also confirmed there were multiple aged care facilities across Sydney where staff and residents had been infected including nine residents at an aged care facility in Summer Hill in the city's inner-west.

"As I understand it, the ones with vaccination are doing relatively well," he said.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said lockdown was "damn hard" but the strategy was to get vaccination rates up to 80 per cent.

"That means we can live with the Delta variant and we won't have to go in and out of lockdown," the premier said.

She urged all adults to come forward and get vaccinated and said in the previous 24 hours more than 82,000 people in NSW had been vaccinated.

"At that rate we are vaccinating 500,000 of people per week," she said.

Ms Berejiklian said the new cases were contained to the eight Sydney local government areas of concern.

"We are again seeing the virus circulating in workplaces and in homes," she said.

Earlier on Sunday NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said authorities would keep harsher lockdown measures in specific areas despite calls to expand certain rules for all of Sydney.

The Australian Medical Association President Dr Omar Khorshid called for travel limits within a five kilometre radius from home and outdoor mask wearing rules to be extended beyond eight local government areas.

"We're trying to strike a balance and I think the balance is appropriate," Mr Hazzard told ABC's Insiders program on Sunday.

When asked about his previous comments that some Sydney families were turning up to hospitals with a COVID-19 infected relative who is "not alive but dead" the minister said he would not go into the "personal circumstances" of the latest death.

"All I'll say is that there was broad infection in the family and there was no effort to get to health authorities, as I understand it, until it was too late," Mr Hazzard said.

Mr Hazzard said there was a reluctance for large "refugee family groups" where there are few income earners to come forward to health authorities.

There were 87,712 COVID-19 tests reported to 8pm on Saturday night.

Greater Sydney and surrounding regions are in lockdown until at least August 28.

Saturday marked the return to work for the construction sector after a fortnight-long enforced break, with work allowed to resume on non-occupied sites provided COVID-safe plans are in force.

But the sector cannot call on 68,000 workers - or 42 per cent of the workforce - from eight council areas worst-hit by the city's coronavirus outbreak.

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The nation's vaccine coordinator says there are 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses currently ready for use, as the federal government continues to push for a fully vaccinated nation by the end of the year.

On Friday, the national cabinet gave an in-principle approval to a full vaccination plan of 70 per cent that would see border restrictions ease and city-wide lockdowns become unlikely, although no date was agreed.

"We are saying every Australian who wants access to a first dose will have that opportunity this year," Lieutenant General John Frewen told Sky News' Sunday Agenda program,

"I think with the supply that is coming on, we have got a really fantastic chance to get the vast amount of Australians fully vaccinated this year if they choose to do so."

He said there are more than a million and half doses of AstraZeneca ready for use which are being shipped out as the orders come in.

Almost 19 per cent of Australians have been fully vaccinated.

The Queensland government on Saturday imposed a snap three-day lockdown in the state's south east, joining Sydney in its lengthy shutdown.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said these lockdowns are concerning and come at immense cost to the economy.

"That is why we are striving as hard as we can as we move towards Christmas to get as many inoculations done," he told Sky News.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been criticised for his handling of the vaccine rollout, but Mr Joyce won't have a bar of it.

"What he should have done is a very interesting discussion, but what he should do next is vastly more important and that is where we are focusing on is how we deal with this right now," he said.

Meanwhile, the Australian Defence Force has sent another 300 troops to Sydney to help NSW police with isolation and welfare checks. NSW reported 210 new locally acquired virus cases on Saturday, with the source of 120 infections still being investigated.

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Five men have been charged with assaulting police and resisting arrest during a COVID compliance check in Sydney's west.

The incident comes as the force launches a citywide crackdown on lockdown restrictions with a contingent of 300 Australian Defence Force personnel joining them as they enforce rules in eight western and southwestern Sydney council areas.

The men were arrested after officers attended a home in Oakhurst, following reports of a party on Saturday afternoon.

A group of males were found drinking inside a garage and were asked to produce identification but allegedly refused.

When told they were in possible breach of COVID restrictions a 44-year-old man pushed an officer in the chest and four others aged in their 30s became violent and attempted to hinder his arrest, police said.

OC spray was used to subdue the men who have been charged with a range of offences including non-compliance, resisting arrest and assaulting police.

The group will appear in Mt Druitt Local Court later this month.

Meanwhile, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says officers will target Sydney supermarkets and larger retail outlets in a major crackdown focusing on check-in codes and face masks.

He says there's no reasonable excuse for members of the public not adhering to current health orders.

"Recent heath advice has shown that supermarkets and large retail stores are a known source of concern when it comes to spreading COVID-19," the commissioner said in a statement issued on Saturday evening.

A threatened anti-lockdown protest in central Sydney failed to materialise on Saturday as 1300 police officers flooded the precinct, enforcing an exclusion zone.

Taxi and rideshare companies were banned from entering the city under the threat of heavy fines.

Eight people were arrested and more than 250 penalty notices were issued, although no protest activity came to light anywhere resembling last weekend's scenes of thousands demonstrating in the city centre.

Mr Fuller said under the new compliance regime his troops would take a "zero-tolerance approach to members of the public and businesses breaching these orders".

Businesses failing to comply with the QR checking system will be fined $5000, while people who don't check in or wear a face mask will be fined up to $1000.

NSW recorded 210 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases on Saturday. At least 32 of them were infectious while in the community, while the isolation status of 120 more is still under investigation.

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The Prime Minister has declared that the AstraZeneca vaccine is making a "comeback" and is vital in the fight against the growing Sydney COVID outbreak.

Scott Morrison told Sydney radio 2GB on Saturday that AstraZeneca has been "talked down for a long time" but the jabs were especially vital in Greater Sydney, which has entered its sixth week of lockdown restrictions.

On Friday, a national plan that would see border restrictions ease and city-wide lockdowns unlikely once Australia reached a full vaccination rate of 70 per cent was given in-principle approval by state and territory leaders.

Almost 19 per cent of Australians have been fully vaccinated.

The AstraZeneca jab was especially vital in Greater Sydney, and was needed for Australia more broadly to reach vaccination rates of 70 per cent and above, Mr Morrison said.

The vaccine rollout is plagued by problems, including complaints from doctors that they could be sued for administering COVID shots.

Delegates at the Australian Medical Association national conference on Saturday renewed calls for a no-fault vaccination indemnity scheme, promised by the federal government in June.

Dr Chris Moy told the conference the "frustrating" issue had compromised the rollout at critical stages, while another delegate said it had been a "Sco-mozzle".

AMA president Omar Khorshid criticised the handling of the recent COVID outbreak gripping NSW.

"The Delta outbreak in Sydney is our latest challenge and one that has been contributed to by complacency - complacency in the public health settings by government, complacency on waiting for vaccines on the part of the public, or just being a bit hesitant," Dr Khorshid said.

Meanwhile, the Australian Defence Force has sent another 300 troops to Sydney to help NSW Police with isolation and welfare checks. It came as NSW reported 210 new locally acquired virus cases on Saturday, with the source of 120 infections still being investigated.

In Queensland, the government on Saturday imposed a snap three-day lockdown as six new cases were reported.

NSW responded the the move by ordering people who had recently been in Queensland's 11 affected local government areas to stay at home.

According to the national plan agreed to on Friday, lockdowns and restrictions will be unlikely when Australia reaches a 70 per cent vaccination target.

There will also be exemptions from domestic travel restrictions for fully vaccinated residents while caps on returning Australians will be lifted.

People who have received both jabs will be allowed to travel overseas and travellers from countries with high vaccination rates will be given the green light to enter.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said he was confident the states would not decide to go it alone with future lockdowns once the desired vaccination rates had been reached.

But Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said quarantine remained a standout problem.

"Until we get the vaccination rates up and until we fix national quarantine, we'll continue to have announcements like we've had this morning with further restrictions on people's activity," he said.

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