Here's what you need to know this morning.

'You need to hear us', Premier warned

The NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is being accused of "turning her back" on the leaders of Sydney's COVID-19 hotspot areas, after she refused a request to meet with them to discuss their concerns about the impact of the lockdown on their local communities.

Ms Berejiklian was invited to meet with the 12 mayors of the locked-down local government areas across Sydney's west and south-west to hear some of the issues residents were struggling with.

But the Premier declined the request, with an email from her office, seen by the ABC, suggesting the mayors instead pursue a meeting with Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock.

Mayor of Penrith City Council Karen McKeown said the refusal was offensive and disrespectful to the Western Sydney community, already reeling mentally and financially by the harsh lockdown.

"I'm going to be shouting this from the rooftops," she said.

"I'm going to be standing up for our communities, you need to hear us, you need to pay attention, you cannot just cast us off and just disregard and ignore us.

"You do that at your own peril."

Lockdown costing businesses billions

Economic modelling by the City of Sydney council has estimated the lockdown was costing businesses in the CBD a quarter of a billion dollars in lost trade every week.

Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore said that translated into losses of $2.5 billion since the lockdown began.

For Greater Sydney, she said the figure was likely to be in the order of $7 billion to $8 billion. 

"Businesses were doing it tough in the first lockdown and the second lockdown is even tougher," Ms Moore said.

"This is really important because the City of Sydney is worth 7 per cent of the national GDP and it's worth 22 per cent of the state's economic activity so this is impacting right across the nation." 

She said pedestrian traffic in the Sydney CBD was down 90 per cent on pre-COVID numbers. 

Gallery owner Shazia Imran said The Rocks area of Sydney was a "ghost town".

"All the retailers here are struggling, there's literally no one on the streets," she said.

NSW quarantine facility

The NSW opposition is demanding the state government reveal their plans for a purpose-built quarantine facility.

In June, NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the state government would put a proposal to the federal government for a Commonwealth-run quarantine facility in NSW to help bring more Australians home.

Mr Perrottet would not speculate on a possible location for the facility.

Labor health spokesman Ryan Park said given it was now three months since that announcement the state deserved some more details around the plan.

"We want to see how that is progressing because we do know that the start of this current outbreak, this current lockdown was essentially caused by the breach in quarantine so we need to know what the plans are in order to shore that up," he said.

Aboriginal artefacts found at roadworks

Five-thousand-year-old Aboriginal artefacts have been unearthed as part of preparatory work to upgrade the Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains. 

An estimated 3,000 items have been found at 17 sites at Mount Victoria and the Hartley Valley as part of studies for the $5 billion project. 

Local Wiradjuri man Adrian Williams has been involved in the digs. He said it highlighted why the state government should stop the works. 

"We go to these places and pay respect to cultural practices and heritage that goes back thousands of years," he said.

"This site predates white history, predates white settlement. Why should we have to lose any site for the development of a highway?"

Man dies in quad bike crash

A 24-year-old man has died in the state's far west after his quad bike crashed.

Emergency services were called to a property east of Menindee Road in Broken Hill about 2.30pm yesterday after reports of an injury.

Ambulance officers tried to revive the man before he was taken to Broken Hill Hospital where he died on arrival.

A crime scene has been established and investigations are ongoing.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.