RESIDENTS across NSW have been commended for celebrating Australia Day in a mostly COVID safe manner.

Ceremonies commemorating the day were held in line with the current public health orders throughout the state, including most Western Plains communities.

NSW Police officers, across the state held Operation Australia Day 2022, assisted by specialist police, to ensure a safe and secure environment for the community.

According to NSW Police, while there was a small number of arrests and charges laid over a variety of offences on Australia Day, none of them occurred in the Western Plains.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he was pleased to hear people were well-behaved while still being able to enjoy the day amidst the wide spread of COVID in the state.

"It was great to see so many people out across NSW celebrating in a COVID safe way, enjoying the sunshine and the best that NSW has to offer and really appreciating and celebrating our great Australian values," Mr Perrottet said.

At the same time, Mr Perrottet also acknowledged the countless health workers working on the public holiday to provide care and support for people in the state's health system as well as teachers preparing for the return to school.

Students in Gilgandra will have a scattered return to school next week from Tuesday 1 February, while schools in other Western Plains shires, including Narromine, Lachlan, Warren, Coonamble and Warrumbungle LGAs, will return the following week.

80 per cent of public schools across NSW, including those above, have also received an allocation of 4.9 million Rapid Antigen Tests to help ensure safety of students and staff.

Numbers of hospitalisations and positive test results have remained mostly consistent over the past two days in the LHD overall, the Western Plains saw a spike in community cases during the national holiday.

On Wednesday 26 January, 25 people were in hospital across the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) with COVID-19. Of those, two were in ICU.

There was 438 positive PCR test results and 233 positive Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) results identified that day.

More than 30 of these were from Western Plains LGAs, including Bogan (six), Brewarrina (one), Coonamble (one), Gilgandra (four), Lachlan (one), Narromine (11) and Warrumbungle (10).

The following day (Thursday 27 January), while the number of hospitalisations dropped to 23 across the LHD, the number of people in ICU increased to four.

Meanwhile, there was 439 positive PCR test results and 245 positive Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) results identified in WNSWLHD.

103 were from across all Western Plains LGAs - Bogan (nine), Bourke (10), Brewarrina (two), Cobar (six), Coonamble (12), Gilgandra (seven), Lachlan (13), Narromine (17), Walgett (13), Warren (four) and Warrumbungle (10).