Gladys Berejiklian admits lockdown restrictions are certain to remain in place after July 30 as she hints at the magic number Sydney needs to reach to return to freedom

The New South Wales Premier announced 124 new cases on Thursday morning, with a worrying 48 infectious in the community and 57 have still yet to be linked to known clusters

Gladys Berejiklin has hinted at the magic number Sydney needs to reach to end its lockdown as she says a review will be conducted to assess the situation.

The New South Wales Premier announced 124 new cases on Thursday morning, with a worrying 48 infectious in the community and 57 have still yet to be linked to known clusters. 

Greater Sydney is nearing a month in lockdown, with the current status to remain until the previously announced July 30 cut-off - which is all but certain to be extended again.

Without being drawn into exact numbers, Ms Berejiklian said the situation was fluid and would be determined based on community transmissions and exposure venues.

'Getting out of  depends very much on.. if people have been infectious in the community at a low stage where there wasn't a lot of people around' she told reporters.

'But that's why we need to get that number infectious in the community as close to zero as possible because that then allows us to have a degree of confidence that aren't unchecked chains of transmission.' 

Gladys Berejiklin has hinted at the magic number needed to lift Sydney from its lockdown as she says a July 30 review will be conducted to assess the situation

'Getting out of depends very much on.. if people have been infectious in the community at a low stage where there wasn't a lot of people around' she told reporters

Lockdown: George Street was empty on Tuesday morning in the central business district of Sydney

The 124 cases were detected from 85,185 tests to 8pm on Wednesday night, the most conducted in a single 24-hour period in NSW during the entire pandemic.

The spike in cases is the highest during Sydney's latest outbreak; the last time there were this many infections found in NSW in one day was during the first wave in April 2020.

Premier Berejiklian described the highly-infectious Delta variant as 'scary' and said 'nothing about this gives you comfort'.

She identified ongoing discussions as to what will happen following the current July 30 lockdown date, but did admit the record levels of testing will almost certainly lead to even higher cases Friday.

'We look forward to coming back round this time next week to give the community certainty on what July 31 looks like,' she said Thursday morning. 

'But please know that the measure for us, the question we ask ourselves everyday, whether it's the health experts or whether it's obviously members of the government, is how can we allow our citizens to be as safe as possible and as free as possible given the existing risk.

'I can't underscore what a serious situation we're in at the moment. The fact that we have 48 people who were infectious in the community in the last 24 hours is not a good statistic. 

'It is not a good statistic that. Tells us case numbers will continue to go up in the next few days.' 

The spike in cases is the highest during Sydney's latest outbreak; the last time there were this many infections found in NSW in one day was during the first wave in April 2020

A police car is seen driving past cafes at Bronte Beach in Sydney's eastern suburbs on Thursday morning. The city is almost four weeks into a strict stay-at-home lockdown

Greater Sydney is now close to four weeks into a strict stay-at-home lockdown in a desperate attempt to slow the spread of the virus.

But Ms Berejiklian said on Thursday Covid-19 was still spreading rapidly in the city's west and south-west in households and workplaces, and warned Sydney's lockdown would likely continue in some form beyond July 30.

'This disease is so contagious and when you have, literally - in one industry - thousands of people moving around, that means potentially thousands of cases of transmission every day,' she said.

'I suspect case numbers will get worse before they get better.

'The strongest message we can give everybody at this time is please stay at home. It's cruel how contagious this virus is. Any human contact means you can pick up or spread it.' 

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the decision to close her state's border with NSW on Thursday morning on Twitter, as she is still in Tokyo sealing Brisbane hosting the 2032 Olympic Games.

The border closures will come into place from 1am on Friday morning.   

'In order to ease the restrictions as outlined we will close the border to the rest of New South Wales,' Miles said 

Josh Frydenberg repeatedly refused to apologise for the bungled vaccine rollout on Today on Thursday, following Prime Minister Scott Morrison's lead 

Karl Stefanovic slammed Scott Morrison's federal government over the bungled vaccine rollout, zeroing in on the Prime Minister's continued refusal to apologise.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg appeared on the Today show on Thursday morning to discuss Morrison's press conference in Canberra on Wednesday as he confirmed 14 million Australians could remain in lockdown for 'months'.

Stefanovic challenged Frydenberg to apologise for the situation the country finds itself in while countries with high vaccination rates are opening up and allowing their citizens to travel.

'People are angry, people are frustrated. The PM won't say sorry. Are you prepared to say sorry for the rollout?' the Today host asked the Treasurer.

'Well, we accept responsibility, that's even more important because what is key here is what take us forward. Our focus is ensuring as many people get the jab but no country is doing it easy,' Frydenberg replied, dodging the question.

The prime minister has repeatedly come under fire for refusing to apologise for the bungled vaccine rollout.

Frydenberg took a similar line on Thursday, repeatedly refusing to say sorry despite Stefanovic's best efforts.

'Sorry seems to be the hardest word, right?' the Today host asked.

'Look, this is really, really difficult. This vaccine rollout...' Frydenberg replied before Stefanovic cut him off.

'Just say it, Josh,' he interjected.  

'We are accepting responsibility,' the Treasurer said.