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Sydney's health system is being ravaged by Covid-19 as a doctor, nurse and pregnant patient at two of the city's biggest hospitals catch the virus and more than 70 paramedics are forced into isolation.

A pregnant woman tested positive on Wednesday after having a cesarean at Liverpool Hospital the day before. 

She spent most of the day in the hospital in southwest Sydney and may have visited several areas of the facility.

Sydney's health system is being ravaged by Covid-19 as a doctor, nurse and pregnant patient catch the virus. Pictured: Unaffected health workers at Royal North Shore Hospital on Thursday

A fully vaccinated nurse who worked at Westmead Hospital's Covid-19 ward also tested positive. Pictured: Westmead Hospital in western Sydney

A doctor at the hospital has also tested positive, although it's unclear whether he had contact with the woman.

The hospital has suspended all non-urgent surgery and is deep cleaning all its operating theatres.

Meanwhile, a fully vaccinated nurse who worked at Westmead Hospital's Covid-19 ward - the busiest in Australia - also tested positive.

Cleaners there are refusing to enter the Covid unit, claiming they have been denied access to personal protective equipment.

Health Services Union NSW Secretary Gerard Hayes said the workers were told by NSW Health they would not be given PPE, including booties and hairnets. 

There are delays getting properly fitted masks.

The workers were also apparently told they can't shower at the hospital before going home, possibly increasing their risk of contracting spreading Covid-19 to their loved ones and the broader community.

'Our members are asking for basic health and safety provisions. The fact their requests have been denied is incomprehensible,' Mr Hayes said.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard has spoken to hospital management to resolve the issue. 

A pregnant woman tested positive on Wednesday after having a cesarean at Liverpool Hospital (pictured) the day before

About 70 paramedics are reportedly in isolation after one tested positive in south-west Sydney. Pictured: Paramedics in Brisbane in January

Three paramedics at Liverpool Ambulance station have also tested positive, forcing at least 70 paramedics identified as close contacts into isolation.

The station is being deep cleaned.  

An aged care home has also been hit by the virus after a cleaner tested positive. 

Minchinbury Manor in Rooty Hill, west Sydney confirmed on Thursday night a contract cleaner at the facility had been diagnosed, prompting the centre to close.

'We have isolated all residents and staff throughout the facility and our outbreak management plan has been implemented,' a spokesman said.

Covid-19 is affected Sydney's health system. Pictured: A cleaner earlier in the pandemic

Residents and staff will be tested daily, and five close contacts of the cleaner have been identified and sent into isolation.

About 90 per cent of staff and residents had been vaccinated, and those who remain unvaccinated are expected to be offered a jab in the coming days.

It comes after NSW Health issued new alerts for more than 50 venues, including a Shell petrol station in the Riverina which was visited by a person infected with the virus on Saturday.

The state recorded 65 new local Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday, but Premier Gladys Berejiklian warned there would likely be a spike in cases on Friday as the number of infected people circulating in the community remains high, despite stay-at-home orders.

Of the new cases, at least 35 people were out in the community for part or all of their infectious period - a number that needs to be close to zero before the lockdown can be lifted.

'It has been a stable number, it hasn't grown ... (but) unless it comes down, we can't get out of lockdown,' Ms Berejiklian said Thursday.

Sydney and surrounding regions have been in lockdown for nearly three weeks. That was due to end on Friday but will continue for at least another two weeks until July 30.    

Testing clinics in south west Sydney have been packed this week after essential workers from the Fairfield local government area were ordered to get tested every three days if they work outside the area.

With spread through 'fleeting contact' a feature of the Indian Delta strain, the lavish Percy Beames Bar at the MCG (pictured) could be the site of super-spreader event with hundreds potentially exposed

From Friday, around 12,000 teachers, school staff and aged care workers will be prioritised by NSW Health for vaccination at a new hub at the Prairiewood Youth and Community Centre. The venue was changed from the Fairfield showground, which is being used as a Covidtesting site.

Meanwhile, fears are growing 6.7 million Victorians could be forced to endure strict coronavirus restrictions long beyond the planned five-day lockdown, as a Covid outbreak which began in Sydney wreaks havoc across Melbourne. 

The city recorded six more cases on Friday morning, taking the outbreak total to 24. 

Up to four footy fans have already been found to have caught the virus at the MCG on Saturday from a man who lives in an infected north-west Melbourne apartment block, with one of the stadium's busy bars now feared to be a super-spreader site. 

Sources close to the Andrews government said that officials were aiming to tighten restrictions, not go back into lockdown, until they found out people had caught the virus from strangers at the stadium. 

The stay-at-home order came into effect on Thursday, July 15 at 11.59pm as public health officials try desperately to keep a lid on the latest outbreak, which has since jumped to 18 cases. 

But even if the outbreak is contained and the lockdown ends as planned on Tuesday, millions of Victorians face strict restrictions that could last weeks. 

The lockdown rules around hospitality, masks and the number of visitors in homes are likely to be slowly wound back over time rather than removed immediately. 

Pictured: Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announcing new lockdown

In a welcome reprieve, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a newly-introduced $600 relief payment from the Federal Government for hard-hit Victorians.

The highly infectious Indian Delta strain is feared to already be spreading throughout Melbourne after the Percy Beames bar at the MCG was flagged as a Covid exposure site, sending hundreds from all over Victoria into self-isolation.

Already, 6,500 Victorians are in lockdown, including a complete 14-day isolation for residents of the Ariele Apartments in Melbourne's north-west, where infected Sydney removalists first spread the virus.

Exposure sites have since popped up in Frankston, in Melbourne's southeast and Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula, indicating the five-day circuit breaker may not be enough to contain the rapid spread and that the stay-at-home orders will inevitably be extended past Tuesday.

Mr Andrews made the call to shut down the state after Sydney's surging outbreak spread to Melbourne last week, when the team of infected removalists travelled to Victoria under essential work permits.

Prime Minister Morrison has since declared $600 disaster relief payments would be made available to workers who have been hit hard by the lockdown.

But while some residents see the draconian restrictions as a necessary measure to contain the virus, hundreds of anti-lockdown protesters took to the streets in protest demanding Mr Andrews' resignation. 

Health workers are seen at a Melbourne Covid Testing Site at Albert Park in Melbourne on Thursday (pictured), with a spiralling list of close and casual contacts 

The Sydney removalists had the appropriate permits to enter the state despite the Harbour City's spiraling number of Covid cases, which has now surpassed 900. 

The three-man team arrived at a home in Craigieburn on the northern outskirts on of Melbourne July 8, where they dropped off furniture.

A Craigieburn family of four who had recently returned from NSW have since tested positive, before breaking their red permit rules and infected a stranger at a nearby Coles. 

Later that same day the removalists travelled to Maribyrnong in Melbourne's west, to the Ariele Apartment complex. 

The Ariele Apartments in Maribyrnong, Melbourne, has been placed into quarantine along with its 200 residents