SYDNEY: New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, on Tuesday reported its biggest daily rise of locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the year as total infections in the latest outbreak from the highly infectious Delta variant neared 2,400.

A total of 172 new local cases were detected in New South Wales, up from 145 a day earlier.

Highest Covid-19 positivity recorded

Of the new cases, at least 60 spent time while infectious in the community while the isolation status of 32 cases remained under investigation, state Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.