Sixty residents of the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District were among 587 new COVID cases reported in NSW on Thursday.
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Of these, 45 were from Wollongong, six from Shellharbour, and nine from Shoalhaven.
Nineteen of these new infections have been linked to known cases, while investigations continue into the rest.
IRT has confirmed that two residents of its Tarrawanna Aged Care Centre have tested positive for COVID, with all residents now in isolation to prevent the virus' spread.
There are now 499 active cases in Wollongong, 119 in Shellharbour, and four in Kiama, with 100 in the Shoalhaven.
Wollongong Hospital is treating 39 of the 911 people in NSW hospitals with COVID.
There are 181 people in intensive care, including 85 patients who require ventilation.
NSW Health has also reported the deaths of another eight people who had COVID.
They include a man in his 20s and and a woman in her 80s who died at their homes and tested positive to COVID after their deaths.
They bring the number of COVID deaths during this outbreak to 403, which includes seven Illawarra residents.
Meanwhile, Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced a raft of changes to the state's reopening plan.
They include revisions to the school return dates, gathering limits, and vaccination requirements for workers in regional areas.
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