7 new COVID cases in NSW

There have been seven new cases of coronavirus reported in NSW overnight as Premier Gladys Berejiklian calls for more testing.

There have been seven new cases of coronavirus in NSW up to 8pm on Wednesday.

Of those, only one was locally acquired and has been linked to an existing case in the Liverpool private clinic cluster.

The other six cases were from returned travellers in hotel quarantine.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Thursday morning testing numbers had risen to more than 15,000 overnight, but there was more work to be done.

Both Ms Berejiklian and Transport Minister Andrew Constance said there were ongoing concerns about complacency on public transport, especially as cases continue to be uncovered throughout the community.

Mr Constance revealed mask use on Sydney’s public transport system had dropped by about 50 per cent – a worrying statistic as more and more workers head back to the office.

Andrew Constance said mask wearing across Sydney’s transport network had dropped by 50 per cent in recent weeks, and called for commuters to be more vigilant. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

He pleaded with commuters to put their masks back on, register their Opal cards to help contact tracers and wait for the next service if their train or bus looked too full.

“We don’t want to have to consider other measures, but with everyone starting to return to work , it’s critical that people put their masks on on public transport - particularly buses,” he said.

“We dont want to see anyone getting covid on the transport network, we’ve done an amazing job until now, but we’re carrying 1.1 million people at the moment, and that’s only goign to increase through summer.”

The Premier said she would not be able to increase passenger numbers on the city’s transport network until compliance with current COVID guidelines had increased.

“We want to make that possible, we want to increase the number of peoplr who can ride on trains, buses and ferries, but we won’t have the confidence to do that unless more people are wearing masks,” she said.