Educators, health workers and transport staff are among those on the frontlines, as the Delta outbreak continues to spiral out of control in Sydney, and to spread across the country.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller will also ask the Australian Defence Force for an extra 500 troops while the government is in talks with the hospitality industry to allow pubs and bars to reopen as early as September.
It's thought NSW is around 100 days away from being 80 per cent vaccinated. But experts warn it’s not going to signify the start of the “new normal”, as authorities keep suggesting.