Mask wearing to be mandatory in Orange and Western NSW next week

Speaking to the media on Friday, Mr McLachlan implored people to follow the rules.

"Social distancing is so crucial with this strain and please everyone, use the QR codes to check into facilities," he said.

"We've had quite a few issues lately where people haven't used QR codes in a lot of facilities. It is the absolute best thing that will protect you and protect the people around you so that we can get in front of COVID spreading around our community."

He added that this failure to check in has contributed to delays in contacting people who are considered close COVID contacts.

"What quite often happens is it might take us two or three times to have a conversation with a person to figure out where they've been if they haven't used their QR codes to check in or determine where they became infectious," the health boss said.

"So inevitably there are some delays in getting those notifications out."

From Monday, August 23 it will be mandatory across the state to wear a facemask in outdoor settings except for strenuous exercise.

This includes Orange and Western NSW as a whole, despite nearly all cases out west coming from indoor settings.

"We know that this strain of COVID, the Delta strain, is incredibly virulent," Mr McLachlan said.

"It spreads quickly and between people even with some fleeting contacts. I think the stepping up of mask wearing in all outdoor settings is absolutely crucial for us. We know there is potential for even the slightest interaction with people to be the point of infection.

"We know that the vast majority of cases are being picked up in the household, either in the household or in other small venues so could I please urge everyone, don't ever compromise on wearing your mask properly.

"Make sure it's covering your nose, mouth and everything as much as you can. Make sure the seal is put so that you're sucking air through the mask."

There have been positive sewage results for Bathurst, Parkes, Dubbo, Cobar, Narromine and Coonamble and no new positive results for Orange.

Molong and Blayney were also among a group of 14 towns in Western NSW where sewage testing has either recently started or about to start.

The number of healthcare workers in isolation has grown to 131, up from 126 the previous day and there has been a decline in testing numbers once again.

"We've seen a really worrying decrease in the number of people being tested in the last 24 hours," Mr McLachlan said.

"It's dropped to 5300 from over 10000 48 hours ago. It's really concerning."

Out of the 197 total cases in Western NSW, around 50 per cent of the are aged under 20. Over 90 per cent are aged under 50 and there is a single case where the person is aged over 70.

There are now four patients in Dubbo Hospital. One of those is in intensive care and being ventilated.

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