New South Wales has recorded 77 new cases of COVID-19 and one death in the past 24 hours to 8pm.Of today's 77 new cases, 42 were out in the community for all or part of their infectious period.There are growing fears that Sydney and the surrounding regions are now sitting down the barrel of a lengthy shutdown similar to that seen in Victoria last year, with one of Australia's leading epidemiologists yesterday suggesting lockdown orders were likely to be needed beyond August.https://twitter.com/NSWHealth/status/1414026700841644036?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwData analysis conducted by 9news.com.au has revealed just how much more the current COVID-19 outbreak has spread compared to the previous Northern Beaches one, which placed half of the peninsula under strict stay-at-home orders for three weeks over the Christmas period.It was more grim news yesterday as the state recorded 50 new local cases - the highest daily figure in 15 months, superseding the two previous days' record-setting figures.Of those 50, just 13 were isolated throughout.
