On Wednesday, for the first time since mid-March, health authorities were able to report that there'd been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded overnight in the region.
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The number of cases across the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District remained at 115 - with four patients being cared for in Wollongong Hospital, and two in Shoalhaven Hospital.
Since March 15, when the first case was confirmed in the district, the number of cases had slowly risen - and more than 6000 residents have undergone testing.
However while the district's director of medical services, Dr Peter Jansen, welcomed the news that there were no new cases - he urged people to continue to take precautions.
"My message is 'don't stop now'," he said. "We've still got to be vigilant - if we stop practising social distancing and stop adhering to restrictions - there's the risk there will be another jump in cases."
The ISLHD has already increased its critical care capacity - and has plans to boost that capacity further.
"We are coping very well - there's a very small number of people in hospital, with not all requiring ventilation," Dr Jansen said.
"A lot of reorganisation of services, and staff, is happening so we can adjust if there's a rapid increase in COVID cases.
"Moving certain services to a telehealth model, cancelling non-urgent elective surgery and re-purposing facilities are just some of the measures we're taking to free up capacity."
Across the state, cases have also stabilised to some extent. There were 48 new cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday at 8pm - bringing the total number of cases to 2734 in NSW. Of those, 36 are in intensive care units, with 22 requiring ventilators.
In announcing the latest figures on Wednesday morning, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said some of the COVID-19 restrictions could be lifted as early as next month.
"The number of cases in NSW continues to stabilise and that's a positive thing," she said.
"However the number of community transmissions continue to increase and that's what we need to keep a very close and watchful eye on.
"We have to adhere to the restrictions in place. ... Social distancing will be part of our lives until there's a vaccine or a cure, and that's absolutely the case."
The Premier said social distancing was different to restrictions, and the government would continue to consult with health experts on whether restrictions would be relaxed - and when. These decisions would be looked at on a month-by-month basis.
"The risk is that when you do lift any restrictions, it does mean more people in intensive care, more people getting the virus and unfortunately more people dying," she said.
Meantime NSW had doubled its intensive care capacity, and now had more than 1000 beds with the staff, ventilators and equipment required. The aim was to triple and quadruple capacity so the hospital system was prepared.
Ms Berejiklian also announced that there was a new app through Service NSW so people could get updates on COVID-19, and get sent text messages with information and advice.
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