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NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has defended his handling of the Omicron COVID-19 outbreak, saying the state is in a strong position despite rising cases and testing chaos.

• Dominic Perrottet says he is "very confident" about 2022
• 900 infected people were incorrectly advised they were negative for COVID-19
• NSW today reported another 6,062 COVID-19 cases

Pathology services across NSW have been straining under high demand for COVID-19 testing with people queuing up at clinics for hours only to be turned away.

People have also reported waiting up to six days to receive a positive result and at least 900 infected people were also incorrectly advised they were negative for COVID-19.

The state today reported another 6,062 COVID-19 cases.

There are now 557 people being treated for COVID in hospital, with 60 patients in intensive care.

In a tense interview on 2GB, Mr Perrottet stood by the choice to proceed with relaxing restrictions on December 15 despite the threat of Omicron emerging in the community just days earlier.

The state government in the last four days back-pedalled on these some key COVID-safe measures, such as masks in indoor-settings and mandatory QR check-ins across several types of venues.

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