AS the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) records a drop in new COVID case numbers today, officials are reminding residents the numbers are indicative of the low testing numbers across the region.

In today's update for the west, WNSWLHD Chief Executive Scott McLachlan reported 27 new cases identified in the region - three each in Bourke and Narromine, one each in Walgett, Orange and Brewarrina, and 18 in Dubbo.

The cumulative total of positive cases across the WNSWLHD is now 838.

Mr McLachlan said at least two of these cases were infectious in the community while a further 16 are still under investigation.

"This serves as a stark reminder that people could be infectious in our community every day of the week," Mr McLachlan said.

"It might be your next door neighbour, it could be the person next to you at the shopping centre around you, so please, don't for a second relax your mask wearing, your hand hygiene, social distancing and QR code check-in."

Mr McLachlan also said cases were likely to grow in coming days, particularly amongst household contacts and areas where community transmission had been confirmed.

"What that means for us as a region is how we can stay apart from each other and slow the spread - it's the most crucial steps that we can take," he said.

Additional venues of concern were added, though none were in the Western Plains. The full list is updated regularly and can be found on the NSW Health website.

Increased recoveries and hospitalisations

The region has continued to see people recovering from the virus, with another 27 coming out of WNSWLHD's Care in the Community Program in the past 24 hours.

Mr McLachlan said it was great to see more people recovering and looked forward to providing localised recovery numbers early next week, though it was important to recognise more people were still being admitted to hospital.

"Currently, there are 21 patients in hospital across the region - five are in intensive care and two are being ventilated," he said.

"Those are the most crucial things we've got to stop, people getting crook from COVID, ending up in intensive care and in more dire circumstances."

Testing jumps but still not good enough

Officials reported a jump in testing over the last 24 hours, with just over 3500 tests on Monday, though Mr McLachlan said they still needed to see a lot more to have a full grasp of the extent of the virus' spread across the region.

"Testing went up by about 1000 yesterday but we're still a hell of a long way from what we want to see and were seeing just 2 weeks ago," Mr McLachlan said.

An updated list of pop-up testing locations across the WNSWLHD can be found here. Most local Multi-Purpose Health Services and hospitals also offer testing services, but residents are encouraged to call ahead to find out available times and book an appointment.

WNSWLHD's Executive Director Aboriginal Health & Wellbeing Brendon Cutmore also said mobile testing clinics have been rolled out across several LGA's with Aboriginal populations, including Coonamble and Bourke, to relieve some pressure on local health teams. This also includes testing in the home services for those unable to make it to mobile testing sites.

Vaccination clinics about to come around again

The ADF/WNSWLHD pop-up vaccination clinics also continue to be rolled out across the Western Plains, with the second round of doses due to kick off next week.

From next Monday, Dubbo will see another walk-in clinic set up to provide people with the opportunity to have their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine and other clinics will then be rolled out again to the regions.

Mr McLachlan strongly urged residents across the region to take up any opportunity to get "jabs in the arms" as quickly as possible.

"Please come back for that second dose when those clinics come back into your communities - they are walk-in clinics and you don't need to book," he said.

"Today's the day to book an appointment for a vaccination if you haven't had one already - we know there are about 20 per cent of people over 75 who still haven't had one, so we're particularly concerned about that age group."

Mr McLachlan, and Mr Cutmore also emphasised the importance of Aboriginal people young and old across the district coming out to get vaccinated.

In the Western Plains, ADF vaccination clinics are currently available in Walgett at the local RSL and Cobar at the Youth Centre until tomorrow (Wednesday 8 September). A fully updated list of past, current and future clinics can be found here.

At the same time, Mr McLachlan said it was important to remember there are a lot of other opportunities to get vaccinated across local primary care providers, such as GPs, AMS clinics, participating pharmacies and respiratory clinics.

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.