Another 30,062 NSW residents have joined the already quarter of a million in isolation, after contracting COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

The state has also recorded a further 16 virus-related deaths, making for one of the state’s deadliest days since the beginning of the pandemic.

The latest case numbers were registered from 98,986 test results, down on the almost 117,000 processed on Friday.

There are currently 1927 COVID-19 patients in NSW hospitals, 151 of them in intensive care.

The state reported a further 45,098 infections on Saturday, more than 6000 fewer than similarly afflicted Victoria.

However the Victorian tally, which was more than twice its previous day’s total, was inflated by a backlog of cases registered via the state’s new online rapid antigen test (RAT) reporting capacity.

NSW is yet to launch a similar system in a bid to speed up its testing regime but is expected to make the switch by mid-week – at which point case numbers are expected to surge afresh.

Meanwhile former prime minister and Sydney resident Malcolm Turnbull announced on Saturday that he had contracted COVID-19.

-AAP