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New South Wales has recorded three new locally transmitted coronavirus cases overnight.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said two of the cases were close contacts in the Berala cluster and one was a close contact of someone from the Northern Beaches.

READ MORE: Northern Beaches lockdown lifted after three weeks

The new Berala cases are a man and a woman, both in their 30s.

Both are close contacts of a previously reported case.

The Northern Beaches case is a young person from the southern zone of the peninsula, which has not been in lockdown since January 2.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said this person is thought to be an older case but all precautions are being taken during this crucial time.

"We do actually believe that case was an older case but we do wait for serology on that," Dr Chant said.

"Clearly we want everyone to go about their business in the Northern Beaches and again, can I extend my appreciation for their cooperation during the lockdown.

READ MORE: New COVID-19 alerts for Burwood stores amid four new cases on Saturday"

"But like every resident of NSW, this is a critical phase in our response and we are asking you to get tested and continue to get tested.

"I am reassured that the testing rates in that northern zone – and also the southern zone have been quite high – but particularly the northern zone, so that does give me some comfort – but clearly we have to be very vigilant over the next coming weeks."

Dr Chant said continuing high rates of testing was critical in order to identify any unrecognised chains of transmission.

Nearly 24,00 people came forward to get tested in the last 24 hours, slightly less than the previous day of 25,646 tests.

There are now 150 cases associated with the Avalon cluster, and 23 with the Berala cluster.

Ms Berejiklian said while the numbers were encouraging, this was no time for complacency.

"The case of community transmission overnight demonstrates that whilst the main threat of those clusters – both the Avalon cluster and then the related Berala cluster – the main threat has to some extent subsided, we're still mopping up and that's why all of us have to be on high alert," she said.

"The risk in Greater Sydney is the same as last week."

Dr Chant reiterated that anyone who has visited at-risk sites on certain dates must get tested and isolate until they receive a negative test result.

Those locations include:

• Casula Costco Wholesale at Casula at the Crossroads Home-maker centre on Saturday January 2 from 4.45pm to 6.15pm
• Myer Bankstown on the ground floor at Bankstown on Central North Terrace on Wednesday 6 January, from 11.30am to 12.40pm
• Campsie Warehouse Chemist, on Friday January 8 from 12 to 12.30pm
• Campsie Big W on Sunday, January 3, 1.20pm to 1.40pm
• Campsie Medical and Dental Centre on Friday January 8 from 10.40am to 11.30am

Ms Berejiklian said it was important for everyone in NSW to remain on high alert to prevent another outbreak.

"It only takes one or two cases to get out of control or an undetected line of transmission to get out of control for all of us to be in a situation where we have to consider making things tighter," she said.

"But pleasingly we are where we're at in NSW at the moment."

Plea for more communication on borders

The premier spoke on border closures and implored other states to ensure clear and open communication before imposing the strict measures.

"I would simply say to other state leaders – firstly, please talk to us in NSW before you close the border because we can explain to you the situation that's going on," Ms Berejiklian said.

"Closing a border can affect literally, tens and hundreds of thousands of people, depending on where it is, and that's a big call. And in NSW, our strategy is to try to minimise unnecessary stress on our citizens whilst obviously keeping the virus at bay.

"It's a difficult balance, but I just ask other state leaders to, please, talk to us before they close their border to NSW and give us a chance to demonstrate our capacity to get on top of the virus without adversely impacting our citizens."

Ms Berejiklian said she had spoken to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and flagged the border between the two states could open as soon as next week.

"Premier Andrews has already said he hopes to do it (open up) some time next week, but just to – again – just to demonstrate that when NSW closed its border with Victoria, I spoke at length to the Victorian Premier, I spoke to the Prime Minister, we had a three-way conversation.

"It was a big decision for us to take and I just ask that other state Premiers extend the same courtesy to NSW."

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There have been no new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Queensland after a hotel quarantine worker tested positive to the highly infectious UK strain last week, sending all of Greater Brisbane into lockdown.

It comes as 15 people have so far been fined for breaching the three-day coronavirus lockdown order in place across the city. Five of the 15 fines were issued at one party held in a Brisbane suburb.

READ MORE: Nationwide hotel quarantine overhaul begins to contain highly infectious new COVID-19 strains

The streets across Brisbane remain deserted this morning as the city enters its second full day of restrictions, with residents only allowed to leave home for four essential reasons.

Today's results come from over 19,000 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk praised the conduct of resident in adhering to the lockdown.

"What we're seeing in the greater Brisbane area is large amounts of compliance and people are doing the right thing," Ms Palaszczuk said.

She also reminded those who were heading out for a permitted walk or trip to the shops to wear their masks.

https://twitter.com/AnnastaciaMP/status/1348043434938929152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Queensland's contact tracers have identified 147 close contacts of the hotel quarantine worker who travelled around Brisbane while infectious with the UK strain.

Of these, 112 have so far tested negative.

"So far, so good," Ms Palaszczuk said.

The premier said she would provide an update tomorrow morning as to whether Brisbane would be allowed to exit its snap lockdown as planned at 6pm.

However, Western Australia at least has indicated it will keep its border closed to Queensland for some time.

New possible infection sites identified

Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young is urging anyone who visited a number of locations across Brisbane to come forward for testing, whether or not they have symptoms.

This includes anyone who caught the train from Altandi Station to Roma Street at 7am on Saturday January 2 or the train from Central Station to Altandi Station at 4pm the same day.

Other locations are: Woolworths at Calamvale North between 11am and 12pm on January 3; Coles Sunnybank Hills, between 7.30 and 8am on Tuesday January 5; and the Nextra Sunnybank Hills newsagency between 8am and 8.15am on January 5.

"If you have been to any of those places, it is absolutely critical, please immediately come forward," Dr Young said.

She said that so far, 187 people connected to the infectious cleaner at the Grand Chancellor Hotel had come forward and of those, 147 had been deemed close contacts.

Despite most having already tested negative, Dr Young cautioned that health authorities still had to work through 14 days of quarantine for all of those people.

Dr Young also announced health alerts for the Sunshine Coast town of Maleny, where a returned traveller from Victoria visited her parents after flying into Queensland.

The woman had flown into Victoria from overseas on December 26 and was tested in hotel quarantine, where she was found to be positive for the highly contagious UK strain of COVID-19.

She was isolated and did 10 days of quarantine before she was cleared of her symptoms and released to fly to Queensland, where she since tested positive again.

Anyone who visited the Cappriccios Italian Pizza Restaurant in the Riverside Centre in the town between 6.30pm and 7pm on January 6 is being urged to isolate and get tested immediately.

The same advice is being given for those who went to the town's Woolworths between 4.30 and 4.50pm on Thursday, January 7 and the Purple Palate Cellars between 4.15 and 4.25 the same day.

A health alert has also been issued to anyone on that woman's Jetstar flight JQ 570 which arrived in Brisbane at 11pm on January 5.

Contact tracers using CCTV, GoCard to track contacts

Dr Young has defended Queensland Health's approach to deeming who is a "close contact" of the hotel quarantine worker after revealing 187 had been identified.

She said not everyone who caught the same two trains as the infected woman would be deemed a close contact.

"The public health people are assessing each individual case," Dr Young said.

In the case of the two trains the woman caught while infectious, she noted that not everyone would have shared the train platform or a carriage with the woman.

"We've also been working with transport using Go Card information and any CCTV footage that is available," she said.

"The most important thing is individuals shouldn't be making the decision whether or not they're a close contact – they should come forward and then the public health people will make that decision."

Police praise Brisbane community

Speaking to Weekend Today this morning, Queensland's Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll said she was pleased with how Brisbane residents were handling lockdown.

"The public and the community have been pretty amazing in terms of compliance, so we're incredibly pleased that there haven't been too many breaches at all," Ms Carroll said.

Despite this, she said police would be continuing to closely monitor the city's roads, retail areas, parks and entertainment precincts until the lockdown order lifts at 6pm tomorrow.

READ MORE: Brisbane lockdown rules explained

There are also compliance checks being conducted on those who travelled from Brisbane into other areas of Queensland before the lockdown came into effect.

Police have handed out more than 700 masks to Brisbane residents, Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski, said.

He praised the conducted of the vast majority of residents in adhering to lockdown restrictions.

Masks became compulsory across Greater Brisbane on Friday for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

The deputy commissioner said police were taking the approach of handing out masks, not fines, to those willing to comply with police directions.

Why Brisbane is in lockdown

The three-day lockdown was put in place after it was revealed on Thursday a hotel quarantine worker had travelled around Brisbane while infectious with the virulent new UK strain of COVID-19.

The woman caught public transport and went shopping before she developed symptoms and got tested.

No subsequent cases have yet been connected to the woman but anyone in Brisbane with even the mildest of symptoms is being urged to get tested and isolate immediately.

The highly infectious UK strain has also prompted a national overhaul of the hotel quarantine system, with daily testing of quarantine staff and fewer international flights being allowed in.

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