Deputy premier John Barilaro made the announcement via social media earlier in the day, shortly before 2.30pm.

"To minimise movement and protect our communities from the evolving COVID situation in Sydney, stay-at-home orders will be introduced for all of Regional NSW from 5pm tonight," Mr Barilaro said.

"Reasonable excuses to leave your home include shopping for essentials, medical care, caregiving, outdoor exercise with a member of your household or one other person, and work, if you cannot work from home. Schooling will be conducted from home."

Western NSW Local Health District (WNLHD) confirmed the stay-at-home order for Orange and all of regional NSW shortly afterwards, announcing that the lockdown would take effect from 5pm, Saturday, August 14, until 12.01am on Sunday, August 22.

This new order replaces any existing orders in regional NSW.

For the next week, everyone must stay at home unless they have a reasonable excuse to leave. They also cannot have visitors in their home from outside their household, including family and friends.

People still can have one visitor at one time to fulfil carers' responsibilities or provide care or assistance, or for compassionate reasons, including where two people are in a relationship but do not live together.

All hospitality venues must be closed to the public, including pubs, restaurants and cafes, except for takeaway.

Retail premises are required to close except for:

Service stations, banks, post offices, laundromats and drycleaners can remain open.

Anyone who leaves their home must carry a mask with them at all times. They must be worn when working outdoors, by all school staff, by all people in outdoor markets, outdoor shopping strips, and in an outdoor queues waiting for products such as coffee and food.

Every employer across NSW must require their employees to work from home unless it is not reasonably practicable.

It is a reasonable excuse to leave your home for work - but only if it is not practicable to work from home.

There will be a one-day 'grace period' for planned weddings and funerals in the regional areas that have not already been subject to a lockdown - which includes Orange.

Those events may go ahead until 12.01am on Monday, 16 August 16, but only with guests from areas that have not already been subject to a lockdown. From Monday, small funerals and memorial services of 10 persons only (excluding the persons conducting the service) will be permitted.

NSW Health is urging people to continue to present for testing with even the mildest of cold-like symptoms.

Drive-thru COVID testing clinics will continue to operate at Orange's Wade Park and at the Orange Showgrounds.

Bookings are not required at either of these sites.

Wade Park will operate from 8am - 4pm Monday- Friday and from 8am-12pm Saturday (closed Sunday).

Orange Showgrounds is open 7 days from 8am - 4pm.

Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of taste or smell. Other reported symptoms include fatigue, acute blocked nose (congestion), muscle pain, joint pain, headache, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, loss of appetite, unexplained chest pain and conjunctivitis. It is important to maintain high testing rates to identify as many cases in the community as quickly as possible, NSW Health has said.

The snap lockdown comes after NSW recorded its "most concerning day" of the pandemic so far with 466 total cases of COVID-19.

While in the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) 26 new cases were confirmed on Saturday morning - 16 of which were in Dubbo and one in Walgett.

The total number in the region is now 42.

Prior to WNLHD's formal announcement about the snap-lockdown on Saturday afternoon, multiple MPs posted messages on their Facebook and Twitter accounts confirming residents' fears.

It is understood that NSW Health considered restricting the lockdown to just western NSW local government areas before deciding to extend it across the state.

There were more than 9000 tests done in the western region on Friday and more than 5000 of those were in Dubbo.

No cases in the western area are currently in hospital. The two people in hospital announced on Friday have since been released.

On Saturday, WNLHD updated the Dubbo list of exposure sites to include another nine venues.

The latest to be added to the list is Fitness Focus - Gymnastics Area - which was added to the NSW COVID-19 case locations shortly before 1.30pm.

Anyone who attended this venue on Monday, August 9, from 3.53pm to 5.05pm is a close contact and must get tested and isolate for 14 days since they were there, regardless of the result.

The full list can be found on the NSW Health website, which is regularly updated.

On Saturday morning, these Dubbo sites were added:

These sites were added on Thursday morning:

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