Recent figures take the total number of cases in the state to 1219.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was promising that the state had seen a small reduction in the number of cases overnight and it was even more “promising that very few people had died”.

But she said it did not mean the state was out of a “critical” situation and warned tighter quarantine measures would be imposed in NSW if the number of cases do not continue to drop.

“If things haven’t shifted because of the actions we took earlier in the week, and actions which I’m very pleased we took at that time, we will have to go further,” she said.

“And I just want everyone to be prepared for that, not to be overly concerned or panicked, but just to know that the NSW Government will go further if we have to, because it’s in the interests of public safety.”

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said she was expecting the state’s total number of infections to continue rising, mainly due to cases in people returning from overseas.

“We’ll be particularly looking at those cases where we don’t find any links to either overseas travel or known clusters or other confirmed cases,” she said.

“And that will give us an indication of the success of the strategies.”

Dr Chant said NSW hospitals had doubled their ICU capacity to 500 ventilated beds.

She said health authorities were forming a contingency plan in the event more were needed.

“As we phase down elective surgery we can ensure those areas are turned into ICUs,” she said.

“We may need to plan for doubling and tripling [figures], and then quadrupling.”

Berejiklian said NSW had also loosened testing criteria to ensure high-risk citizens, including health care workers, could be tested.

This morning, the Federal government revealed it was lifting restrictions on hairdressers, which had previously been allowed to book clients for 30-minute appointments, following feedback from the community that the measure was not practical.

Berejiklian said there was “further clarity required”.

“I’d rather be cautious and take action,” she said.

“As much as possible we are asking everybody to please step up and head what we’ve asked.”

“NSW is different to the other states.

“If I feel the curve is not going the way we want it to, I will go further in NSW, there will be further shutdowns.”

She also said tougher border controls would be implemented to ensure no one disembarks any ships in NSW until stricter protocols are in place.