The Omicron wave has seen case numbers rocket across Orange, with over 2000 infections recorded from PCR tests since the turn of the new year.

At one point, the region as a whole crashed through the 1000 new cases in 24 hours ceiling - recording 1059 fresh infections on January 8. Orange picked up 214 of those cases, a record for that Local Government Area.

As of Friday, January 21, case numbers in the district had plateaued to about the 400-per-day mark. Orange owned 92 of those infections.

The health district still views those figures as inflated, however, it's a number they don't believe lines up with the number of people currently in hospital battling the infection.

On that same Friday as the district picked up 386 new COVID-19 cases, there was 33 in hospital and none in ICU.

Western NSWLHD acting chief executive Mark Spittal says unvaccinated people make up the bulk of those patients too, and if not for a remarkable vaccination rate of over 95 per cent in most places, that number would be even greater.

He says booster shots, the vaccination of kids and, if not yet jabbed, the inoculation of adults still without their first or second dose remains the region's best bet in the fight against COVID-19.

"When you look at the most seriously unwell people across NSW ... it becomes starkly clear that it is unvaccinated people who end up in ICU solely due to COVID-19," he said.

"Thankfully, we will never know how many more people might have fallen seriously ill if we didn't have such strong community vaccination coverage."

Mr Spittal was quoted last week as saying the district is, so far, comfortable with close to 40 people in hospital with COVID-19 across the district.

Buhe added that level of hospitalisation in our health district is still enough to fill the inpatient beds in two or three of the region's multipurpose services, or almost a third of the Bathurst Base Hospital, and crucially puts a halt to elective surgeries.

"Some people have waited for surgery for almost two years in our District due to the pandemic and we desperately want to get them the care they need as soon as we safely can," Mr Spittal said, adding the smaller the service the tougher it became when staff were being furloughed after being placed in isolation.

"The ability of your local health service to keep caring for people, whether they have COVID-19 or not, is what our communities care about. We all need to be behaving in a COVID-safe way all the time now.

"And, of course, getting vaccinated. Vaccination is our best protection against serious illness. We are seeing the proof of that every day now.

For more information on COVID-19 vaccination and to book an appointment, visit the WNSWLHD website or the Federal Government's COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder.

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