NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant says the latest data indicates a new wave of infections has begun.
"We are starting to see an increase of COVID-19 cases and changes in the variants circulating in NSW, which tells us we are entering the next COVID-19 wave," she said on Thursday in a video on the NSW Health Facebook page.
"By looking at all the local information we have and what's happening overseas we believe COVID cases will rise in the coming weeks."
Dr Chant said there are several subvariants of the virus circulating and while the BA.4 and BA.5 continue to be the most common variants, their dominance has diminished to 63 per cent.
There is a rise in emerging variants and the BA.2 sublineages.
There were 9707 people diagnosed in the week ending last Friday, an increase of 11.4 per cent on the previous week.
There were 227 people with COVID-19 admitted to NSW hospitals, 18 people admitted to ICU last week and 17 deaths.
"The protection the NSW community has from vaccination and previous infection continues to reduce the risk of severe illness," Dr Chant said.
"However the elderly and those with underlying health conditions continue to be at risk."
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