As many prepare to head to big New Year's Eve celebrations, thousands of people across the Illawarra will spend the night in isolation.
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The Illawarra Shoalhaven has seen over 800 COVID-19 infections reported in one day - more than three times the previous record of 255.
The Wollongong local government area has 498 of the 821 new cases, while there are 108 from Shellharbour, 40 from Kiama, and 175 from Shoalhaven.
The Plecas-Muscat family have been caught up in the wave of infections, and are preparing to spend New Year's Eve at home.
Grant Plecas said his son Thomas was exposed after attending a family gathering with his girlfriend on Christmas Eve.
He isolated himself and took a PCR test; after three days he received a positive result.
I've set up a blow-up spa and a friend did a Dan Murphy's run for us, so we'll spend the evening on the deck.
The family is making the best of the bad situation.
"We all went and got tested yesterday, me, my wife and our two other sons," Mr Plecas said.
"The anxious part is waiting for the results. I've set up a blow-up spa and a friend did a Dan Murphy's run for us, so we'll spend the evening on the deck."
The number of cases recorded in a single day in NSW has also skyrocketed, from more than 11,000 reported in the 24 hours to Wednesday night to 21,151 in the day to 8pm Thursday.
Six people have died, while across NSW the number of people hospitalised with COVID has risen to 832.
Hospitalisations in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District remain steady at 14.
Chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant said health authorities were working on hospitalisation data and teasing out which patients were admitted specifically because of COVID, and which patients were admitted for other reasons but also had COVID.
"Some of the data is skewed by those factors and we're trying to understand the true contribution," Dr Chant said.
"But can I say, that in itself adds complexity for the health system, because once anyone is in there [with COVID], even with a different diagnosis, it means the staff are wearing higher grade protection, we to have have more infection control.
"So even that, we have to account for in our understanding of the impact those cases have."
There are 69 COVID patients in NSW in intensive care, with 19 of them on ventilators.
NSW Health is urging people to be safe as they celebrate the end of 2021 on Friday by socialising in small groups, preferably outdoors, or ensuring there is good ventilation when indoors.
People are also encouraged to take a rapid antigen test before heading out, although there are still supply issues at pharmacies in the Illawarra and across the state.
But they can still be found at some stores, as well as some supermarkets.
NSW Health urged only those with symptoms, close contacts, and those told by NSW Health to seek PCR tests.
New rules came into effect overnight that limit a 'close contact' to someone who lives with a confirmed COVID case, or someone who has spent at least four hours with a COVID case in a home, accommodation, or care facility.
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