The Coonamble shire may become the first in the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) to accomplish the 70 per cent double vaccination milestone according to the latest figures.

The shire and its various health services were personally congratulated by officials during today's (Wednesday 22 September) COVID press conference where the region recorded another day of single-digit new case numbers.

Up to 8pm last night, nine new cases of COVID-19 were identified in the WNSWLHD, two of which were from the Western Plains area in Walgett.

The remaining cases were from Dubbo (four) and Wellington (three). This takes the cumulative total of cases in WNSWLHD to 1089. Two of these cases, one each in Dubbo and Wellington, have been confirmed to have been infectious in the community.

"While it's pleasing to see some plateauing of the numbers, there's still some real risk in our region of further spread in some communities," WNSWLHD Chief Executive Scott McLachlan said.

New venues of concern continue to be updated as investigations from WNSWLHD teams continue. The full list of venues of concern across the region can be found on the NSW Health website.

Authorities also confirmed a specialist panel make its final decision on whether communities like Gilgandra, Narromine and Brewarrina would exit lockdown this afternoon and this would be made public by tomorrow morning.

Ninth death for WNSWLHD

Mr McLachlan was also disappointed to report a new death in the WNSWLHD, taking the district's total to nine.

The latest casualty was a woman in her 90s from the St Mary's Villa aged care facility. She was fully vaccinated and had several underlying health conditions. She will be included in tomorrow's statewide update.

According to WNSWLHD, there are currently 215 active cases being cared for in the COVID Care in the Community program across the region, with a further 37 discharged having recovered from their infection in the past 24 hours.

Mr McLachlan said the amount of hospitalisations was also decreasing, with 15 people currently in hospital - one in Narromine - though five were still in intensive care and four being ventilated.

WNSWLHD Chief Executive Scott McLachlan was pleased to share some positive news about case numbers and vaccination during today's press conference, though he said testing rates were still far too low.

Surveillance testing begins today

Across the Western LHD, a total of around 2800 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, a small decline from yesterday.

Mr McLachlan said the numbers were still too low to guarantee the region was mostly free of COVID and he hoped the expansion of their surveillance testing program - where people or people in their households are not symptomatic or considered close contacts don't have to isolate while waiting on a result - from today would see them increase.

"Please start to come and get tested across the whole of Western NSW, even if you don't have symptoms," he said.

"Surveillance testing will continue over coming weeks - this is our time to get in front of COVID in Western NSW."

An updated list of pop-up testing locations across the WNSWLHD, all of which now offer surveillance testing, can be found here.

Coonamble tops vaccination charts

Mr McLachlan followed up on newly-updated vaccination rates released by the district this week, applauding some communities for their high second dose rates while urging others to take advantage of the opportunities available to them.

Communities highlighted to be doing well on the vaccination front included Bourke, with an 84 per cent first dose and 65 second dose rate, Warren, with 90 per cent and 62 per cent respectively, and Gilgandra, with around 93 per cent and around 57 per cent respectively.

The Coonamble shire was also congratulated for "setting the world on fire" when it came to vaccination with 89 per cent of the population with their first dose and 69 per cent with their second.

"It's been really impressive to see some of the communities like Coonamble really stretching ahead," Mr McLachlan said.

"What's really clear is there have been some general practices, Aboriginal Medical Services, pharmacies and other providers in the town as well as the LHD and ADF clinics that have all had a rally to help vaccinate people as soon as possible.

"I think the community of Coonamble and everyone living around Coonamble have been really driven to make sure they can get vaccinated."

He did acknowledge, however, this drive was not widespread, specifically calling on the Bogan and Cobar shires - both of which have only 28 per cent of the population fully vaccinated - to take advantage of the ADF clinics in both areas over the next week.

The Nyngan clinic, delivering first and second doses, will be in town until tomorrow (Thursday 23 September), while the Cobar clinic will be in the area from Monday to Wednesday 27-29 September.

The updated schedule of these WNSWLHD pop-up vaccination clinics, which include dates, times and locations, can be found here.

The AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are also available at local GPs, Aboriginal Health Services and respiratory clinics.

Participating pharmacies can also provide the vaccine and around 2000 across the district have begun receiving supplies of the new Moderna vaccine this week. They will be available for unvaccinated people 12 and up in the coming days.

Authorities also discussed the wide range of ways that were available for residents to prove they are fully vaccinated, including the Medicare Express app, available to all smartphone users, and a printed or online statement from the Australian Immunisation Register. Other methods, including a button on the Service NSW app, are also being developed.

For all the latest information about COVID-19 across NSW, including several handy links, be sure to check out our in-app COVID-19 button.