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Several venues in Sydney's Inner West and inner city have been put on high alert after being declared Covid exposure sites. 

It is a worrying development for state health authorities with the Indian Delta variant now spread right across the Harbour City with 239 new locally-acquired cases on Thursday bringing the total number of infections in the latest outbreak to 2,810. 

Among the latest locations flagged are a health clinic and an entire apartment complex in inner-city Pyrmont, a bottle shop in the Inner West suburb of Forest Lodge, along with a trendy Annandale bakery.

NSW Health also sent out public health alerts for 14 busy train routes, from Cabramatta in the city's outer west, all the way to Central station in the CBD.

Residents and visitors at the iconic Goldsbrough Apartments in Pyrmont, which overlooks Darling Harbour, have been warned they are now considered casual contacts and must immediately get tested and self isolate until a negative result is received.

The alert is active for five days at all times from July 23 to 27.    

Resident and visitors to the iconic Goldsbrough Apartments in Pyrmont (pictured), which overlooks Sydney's Darling Harbour, have been warned they are now considered close contacts

The trendy Booth Street Bakery in Annandale, Sydney's Inner West (pictured) has been flagged as a Covid exposure site

Chambers Cellars in Forest Lodge, Sydney's Inner West was visited by a positive case on July 24

Another venue in Pyrmont also causing concern is the Health Space Clinic which was visited by an infected person on July 23.

Anyone who attended the site between 9:00am to 10:00am on that day is considered a close contact and must immediately get tested and self isolate for 14 days regardless of the result. 

It is the same story for shoppers at the Forest Lodge Chambers Cellars Shop who visited on July 24 from 1:45pm to 2:05pm and for anyone who attended Annandale's Booth Street Bakery on July 25 between 2:45pm to 3:15pm.

Greater Sydney's transport network has also been hit with exposure alerts with July 23 trains from Gosford to Central and from Strathfield To Tuggerah flagged after an infected passenger unwittingly travelled on the service.

There were 12 other busy train lines from Cabramatta in the west to Central station also put on high alert from July 19 to 24.

Thursday's spike in cases is the highest increase the state has recorded in one day in the entire pandemic

Premier Gladys Berejiklian in response to Thursday's record-breaking case numbers announced that masks will now be mandatory in hotspot suburbs and that fines for lockdown rule-breakers would be doubled.

She said 70 of the new cases - which were found from a NSW pandemic-record 110,962 tests in the 24 hours to 8pm on Wednesday night - were infectious in the community.   

The spike in cases is the highest increase the state has recorded in one day in the entire pandemic.

NSW Health also confirmed the death of another two of the state's residents from Covid-19 - a woman in her 90s and a man in his 80s from south-western Sydney. 

Neither of them were vaccinated against the virus. NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said 25 per cent of the state's residents over the age of 70 had yet to receive their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

There are now 182 patients suffering from the virus in hospitals across the state  - 54 of which are in intensive care with 22 on a ventilator. 

Dr Chant said 17 of the patients in intensive care were under the age of 40 - including two in their teens, eight in their 20s and three in their 40s. 

A woman in activewear strolls along the beachfront at Bondi in Sydney's eastern suburbs on July 29, 2021 

Masked south-west Sydney residents are pictured at Canterbury Hospital in Sydney's south-west on Thursday. The city's two million residents living in a hotspot LGA in the west and south-western suburbs will now have to wear a mask whenever they leave home

Just a day after extending the city's stay-at-home lockdown for another four weeks, Ms Berejiklian also announced two million Sydney residents living in one of eight hotspot LGAs in the west and south-western suburbs would have to wear a mask whenever they leave home.   

Those areas are Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Liverpool, Blacktown, Cumberland, Parramatta, Campbelltown and Georges River. 

'If you step foot outside your household, you need to wear a mask at all times. It doesn't matter where it is,' she said.

'We're seeing too much evidence of people who are not wearing masks when they need to.'

Penalties for not wearing a face mask across the city meanwhile will increase from $200 to $500, with thousands of police officers deployed across Greater Sydney to enforce the tightened restrictions.

From midnight on Saturday morning, residents in those LGAs also cannot travel more than 5km from their home for essential shopping or for exercise.  

'These harsh measures are the harshest Australia has ever faced in a lockdown,' Ms Berejiklian said. 

'The Delta strain is different to anything we have seen,' she said. 

'I appreciate whilst all of us are under stress and pressure with the lock down, if you live in those eight local government areas, we are asking so much of you.'

Essential rollerblading?: A Sydneysider is pictured getting her essential exercise while roller blading in Sydney's Bondi on July 29

Pictured: Bikini girls are told to move on by police enforcing Sydney's lockdown on Bondi Beach

Health officials said 104 of the new cases - almost half - were found in south-west Sydney, while 58 were detected in the city's west.

Another 51 though - up from 20 on Wednesday - were found in the central Sydney local health district in a worrying sign the outbreak has broken containment lines in the western suburbs and was moving back east.

The outbreak began on June 16 when an airport transport worker tested positive to Covid-19 in the city's eastern suburbs.

'Things are likely to get worse before they get better due to the number of people infectious in the community,' Ms Berejiklian said.

Cool cats: Glamorous residents in Sydney's Double Bay are pictured strolling along in the midst of the city's lockdown

She was asked on Thursday whether she had 'failed' NSW by waiting more than a week to send the city into lockdown.

The premier was asked: 'Will you admit that your strategy has failed, that you have failed?' 

She replied: 'I'm never going to suggest we get everything right.'

The state leader has faced criticism for refusing to impose stay-at-home orders in Greater Sydney until June 26, 10 days after the city's outbreak began. 

To better deal with the surging number of infections, NSW has called in the Australian Defence Force to enforce its hard lockdown on Sydneysiders.

NSW has called in the Australian Defence Force to enforce its hardcore lockdown on two million Sydneysiders after the state recorded its worst-ever Covid numbers

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller confirmed on Thursday he has made a formal request to the federal government for ADF assistance with the ongoing Covid-19 compliance operation.

The NSW Police Force is significantly expanding its enforcement activities in Sydney over the coming days and has requested 300 ADF personnel to boost its operational footprint.

Commissioner Fuller said the NSW Police Force and the ADF had forged a close relationship throughout the pandemic.

'The assistance of the ADF has been essential over the past 18 months - particularly during last year's border operation, the ongoing hotel quarantine operation and the assistance provided with logistics support in the Police Operations Centre,' Commissioner Fuller said.

'With an increase in enforcement activity over the coming week, I have now made a formal request to the Prime Minister for ADF personnel to assist with that operation.

'I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his ongoing support.'