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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

Image: DaNangTV, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The lead guitarist of INXS suffered a career-ending finger severance on a boat because he wasn't taking reasonable care around the anchoring equipment, a Sydney court has been told.

Tim Farriss, 64, is seeking medical, economic and other damages in his negligence claim against a boat company after his left ring finger was hacked off on Pittwater Bay on the Australia Day weekend in 2015.

From a home office adorned with INXS memorabilia, the Perth-born musician is due to tell the NSW Supreme Court on Monday the incident ended his career and his ability to compose music.

"It is useless," barrister Adrian Williams said of his client's reattached finger.

"He is unsurprisingly depressed."

Farriss argues that on January 24 in 2015 he and his wife, Beth, sailed into Akuna Bay but struggled to set anchor because the chain was "prone to 'kinking'".

They telephoned a Church Point Charter employee for assistance after the anchor motor stopped operating and then reset the circuit breaker.

The motor restarted but it didn't halt the kinking of the chain.

In his claim, Farriss says he attempted to realign the chain only for it to start spinning out of control.

He suffered a severed left ring finger and serious injuries to his index and middle finger. There was a minor injury to his pinky finger.

But the boat company, and its owners John and Jill Axford, dispute the claim the anchor chain and its motor were damaged.

Their lawyer said Justice Richard Cavanagh would have to decide whether the musician was in the vicinity of two foot pedals near the anchor motor that mechanically moved the anchor up and down.

"Our case is there was no damage - at some point, Mr Farriss must have loosened the clutch and he stepped on the up button, or perhaps the down button," John Turnbull SC told the court on Monday.

"But, of course, only he knows."

Farriss told the ambulance officers as much when being treated, Mr Turnbull said.

If you place your fingers near the winch, they could get hurt.

"But a reasonable person had other options available to them," Mr Turnbull said.

There is no dispute over the extent of Farriss' medical expenses but the Axfords dispute claims about the extent to which INXS could have toured after 2015.

The hearing is expected to run until Friday.

© AAP 2021

Image: Rob_Thomas_INXS.jpg: Me!bourne Mermaidderivative work: FotoPhest, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

A scheme protecting health professionals giving coronavirus jabs and compensating Australians who suffer a serious side effect from them has been unveiled by the federal government.

The no-fault compensation scheme was outlined by Health Minister Greg Hunt on Saturday, as the federal government faces calls to fund extended opening hours for GPs to deliver more doses.

Health professionals who administer COVID jabs will be afforded legal protection under the COVID-19 Vaccine Claim Scheme, which will also provide impacted Australians "a simple and quick" access to compensation, Mr Hunt said.

The scheme will be administered by Services Australia, with Australians who suffer injury and loss of income due to a COVID-19 shot able to register their intent to claim from September 6.

It will cover the costs of injuries above $5000 due to a proven adverse reaction.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Australian Retail Association, among others, welcomed the indemnity provisions.

RACGP president Karen Price said the scheme would give peace of mind and protection to GPs, "the backbone of the vaccine rollout" who had delivered over half of all vaccinations across Australia.

It came as Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley called for the federal government to help enable GPs to ramp up the number of patients they vaccinate even further.

A trials at a handful of Melbourne clinics showed GPs have the capacity to deliver more jabs, if they're made available and opening hours are extended.

He wants the Commonwealth to pay for clinics to be open later and on weekends, to help meet demand, particularly as those eligible for vaccination expands to teenagers.

"We are demonstrating, because someone has to, that the GPs can do more," he said.

A third of Australian adults are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19, with children next on the list.

Vaccine bookings for those aged 12 to 15 to open from September 13.

Meanwhile, NSW have recorded another record day of new COVID-19 cases, with 1035 reported on Saturday.

Victoria also reported another 64 cases, while the ACT notched up another 26.

After an exposure scare involving two truck drivers from NSW, WA recorded no new local cases, as did the remaining states and territory.

© AAP 2021