New South Wales has reported a further 98 local cases of COVID-19 from almost 76,000 tests.
However, 20 of those were active in the community throughout their infectious period.
A further 17 were in the community for a part of their infectious period.
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Premier Gladys Berejiklian said driving that number down to zero would be the key factor in lifting lockdown.
“We need to get ahead of that number in order to reduce the cases in the community and the closer we get that number to zero, the sooner we can end the lockdown,” she said.
Sixty-one of the new cases were linked to a known case or cluster while 37 had no immediately known source of infection.
Forty-three were transmitted within the household.
Transmission within the home was still driving the stubbornly high case numbers, Berejiklian said, while workplaces were also becoming a concern.
“That is why we have put those rules around workplaces in particular, that is why we have had to ask some businesses to down tools until 30 July,” Berejiklian added.
“Because workplaces unfortunately not only spread the virus to colleagues but potentially spread the virus to other communities because people from different areas are coming together at a workplace.”
Southwest Sydney continues to be a hotspot for COVID-19 cases, with 67 of the 98 detected in the relevant local health district.