New South Wales records 262 Covid-19 cases and five deaths from virus

Another five deaths from Covid-19 have been recorded in New South Wales as the state announced a pandemic-record 262 cases of the virus overnight. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four of the five NSW residents to die from the virus overnight were not vaccinated. The fifth had received only one dose of the AstraZeneca jab.

Ms Berejiklian has meanwhile announced the Newcastle and Hunter region- more than 100km north of Sydney - would enter a one-week lockdown from 5pm on Thursday after five school students tested positive to Covid-19.

The announcement comes hours after five school students spread across coastal towns in NSW tested positive to coronavirus, raising fears the outbreak is spreading into the state's regional areas.

Two of the students attend Lake Munmorah Public School on the Central Coast and their older sibling goes to Morisset High School near Lake Macquarie. 

There are also two positive cases at Maitland Christian School in the Hunter Valley, with parents and teachers being informed via email on Thursday morning.

All three schools were shut down for deep cleaning on Wednesday after the positive tests and hundreds of students and stuff sent into isolation. 

A Target employee working at Stockland Glendale shopping centre has also tested positive, with the building the latest high-risk exposure site. 

Lake Macquarie, the Hunter and the Central Coast have had next to no Covid cases but the Central Coast is in lockdown along with Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Illawarra.   

Thousands of local residents were informed last week their vaccine appointments were being rescheduled so the jabs could be sent to Sydney for Year 12 students.

A concerned parent of Lake Munmorah Public told Daily Mail Australia they were in the dark about the news and were not told dates and times of the exposure.

'We have not been contacted individually by the school or NSW health. We got a general notification last night,' she said.

'I'm still waiting to hear what days/ classes as I have worked, attended medical appointments and shopped in the past few days so wish I knew more so I could warn colleagues and doctors.

'My partner has taken my son for a test this morning, because I feel lost just waiting around for updates. 

'The school is only open to essential workers so it shouldn't be that hard to let everyone know if the child is a close contact or casual contact.'

There is a huge queue forming at Warners Bay drive-thru clinic as students, parents and staff rush to seek tests.

The clinic is now at full capacity and is opening intermittently as a huge stretch of cars wait to be tested. 

There are now mass testing events being conducted at drive-thru clinics across the region including Maitland Hospital, University of Newcastle and John Hunter Hospital. 

Last week thousands of residents on the Central Coast and Hunter regions were informed their appointments would be rescheduled as the delivery of Pfizer vaccines were re-routed to Sydney.

Locals were upset to find out the jabs were being sent to west and south-west Sydney to grapple with the latest outbreak, while also given to Year 12 students in an attempt to save the school year. 

The NSW government diverted 40,000 jabs from regional areas to vaccinate the students in Sydney hotspots.

Ms Berejiklian defended the decision on Sunday, where she argued it would not pose a risk to regional areas and vaccination was an important a tool in their battle against the highly infectious Delta strain within red zones in Sydney's west and south-west.  

'When you consider there are eight million people in NSW, and we have been able to stop the spread of the virus in our regions and other parts of Sydney,' she said.

'It is important for us to give those Year 12 students a chance to finish their exams and get rewarded.

'We know that we are

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