There has been a total of 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Young recorded since last Thursday with the seven-day lockdown to be extended for another seven days.
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There were two new cases reported on Thursday with one of the cases isolating outside of the District and one isolating at home.
As a result of the number of cases as well as community transmission and exposure sites NSW Health has announced that the lockdown in the Hilltops LGA will be extended for a further seven days.
"Stay-at-home orders for Hilltops LGA, including Young, will be extended for a further seven days from tomorrow (Friday 24 September) due to ongoing transmission in the area," a NSW Health spokesperson said.
"We need all people throughout NSW to continue to come forward for testing at the first sign of even mild symptoms. High vaccination rates are also essential to reduce the risk of transmission and protect the health and safety of the community."
As with the lifting of lockdowns previously the NSW Health team appear to be using the same algorithm which would see Young and the Hilltops have no further cases of COVID-19 for 14 days or the state reaches the 70 per cent double vaccinated mark for the lockdown being lifted to be considered.
Young had no new cases recorded on Wednesday or Thursday, however locals are being warned to no be complacent by Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke.
"Despite the zero new cases to 8PM last night, we aren't out of the woods yet," Ms Cooke said on Wednesday. "NSW Health's Public Health Unit continues to work around the clock, investigating the current COVID positive cases and identifying venues of concern. This work will continue for as long as it takes."
Testing this weekend will be held at Young Showground, Young Town Hall and the Young Mosque with details to become available on Friday.
MLHD and NSW Health have said that of the 14 cases five are currently being treated at Wagga Base Hospital with one patient in the Intensive Care Unit, however he is not on ventilation at the moment.
According to MLHD the patients in care at Wagga are aged between two to 77-years-old, with concerns across the area as the majority of confirmed cases are in people aged under 18 years.
The number of cases in the under 18 cohort has prompted MLHD to urge anyone aged 12 and over to get vaccinated.
"Vaccination is now open to anyone over the age of 12 and we've really got to focus on getting those little people down to the chemist, GP or the state-clinics and get them vaccinated as soon as we can," MLHD chief executive Jill Ludford said.
"As we saw in the numbers today (Tuesday) we've got quite a high proportion of children who are catching COVID-19 and they can become very, very ill, particularly the little ones so let's all get those children vaccinated and a big push for our high school children as well."
Ms Ludford said the impact of COVID-19 on children can differ but generally it has a less significant impact than it does on those over the age of 18.
"The impact is variable and for the Delta variant little children can become very ill but in the majority of cases it doesn't have such a devastating impact as it does on adults," she said.
