Lockdown extended: What we just learnt from Gladys Berejiklian's press conference.

Greater Sydney's lockdown will be extended for at least another two weeks, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced. 

The state recorded 97 locally-acquired cases on Wednesday, with 24 of those cases infectious while in the community. It comes as 65,000 people were tested for the virus in the past 24 hours.

Here's what you need to know from Gladys Berejiklian's latest press conference.  

Lockdown extension. 

Lockdown has been extended for another two weeks until at least 11:59pm on Friday, July 30.  

The existing settings will remain in place, however Ms Berejiklian did suggest that further restrictions may be introduced if the health advice requires this.

The Premier says the number of cases infectious in the community needs to be as close to zero as possible before lockdown can lift. 

The extension means home learning will continue for at least another two weeks. 

NSW police officers patrol the Bondi Beach boardwalk on July 14, 2021 in Sydney, Australia. Image: Getty.

Sydney's latest COVID cases.

NSW recorded 97 new cases with the majority of these from the south-western Sydney area, particularly Fairfield. 

Dr Chant said there are still several unlinked cases with no known source of infectious, which are cause for concern for contract tracers. 

"The areas of concern are Fairfield local government area, Roselands, Rosebury, Canterbury, Belmore, Sutherland shire, the St George area, Windsor, St Ives, Penrith and Bayside local government area," Dr Kerry Chant said on Wednesday. 

NSW has 71 COVID patients in hospital, with 20 people in ICU - four of whom are on ventilators. 

Of the 20 people in ICU, one is in their 20s, two are in their 30s, two are in their 40s, five are in their 50s, five are in the 60s, three are in their 70s, and two are in their 80s.

Watch: How to talk to anti-vaxxers. Post continues below. 

Help for NSW tenants.

To assist those who have lost work, NSW Government has announced there will be no forced evictions for commercial, residential or retail tenants for 60 days. 

"Mandatory mediation is in place as well as support. I encourage all landlords to speak to their tenants and if your tenant is struggling, to engage with them in a payment plan, a reduction in rents and we will provide an equivalent offset in terms of your land tax obligations," NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet announced on Wednesday. 

"And for landlords in the residential space who do not pay land tax, we will provide up to $1500 for you to pass that onto your tenant to help them through this difficult period."

Feature image: Getty.