Today's cases represent a significant drop from yesterday's 30,062, but there were almost 15,000 fewer people tested on Sunday.
NSW Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant said the lower case numbers were because of the transition from PCR testing to RATs,
"That (case number) clearly is an underestimate," Dr Chant said.
Hospitalisations and intensive care admissions across the state rose slightly, to 2030 and 159 respectively.
Of today's 18 dead, one is a child aged under five from south-western Sydney who had "significant" underlying health conditions.
The other dead are six women and 11 men.
Health authorities are reacting to an increase in hospitalisations, with some patients moved from public to private hospitals to free up beds.
Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce would not give exact numbers when asked how many patients were being moved.
"We are talking about in the tens of patients, not hundreds at this stage."
She said the ICU particularly in Western Sydney and south-western Sydney have "quite a lot of patients", both COVID and non-COVID.
The Omicron wave continues to hit Australia's eastern states hard.
School plan
There are 63,000 vaccination bookings across NSW health clinics for children aged 5-11, with many more vaccinated through their local GP or pharmacy.
Those children will get the Pfizer vaccine.
There have been reports of vaccinations cancelled today, because of supply chain and staff illness.
"Most of our clinics provided nice spaces for children to be vaccinated," NSW Health Deputy Secretary Susan Pearce said.
School students will face a rapid antigen testing regimen to keep them in the classroom, as the opening of Term One nears.
A test-to-stay system will be implemented across the state, which will see students exposed to COVID-19 take an RAT.
The result can be uploaded online, meaning students who test negative can return to the classroom in short order.
NSW has also changed isolation rules for food supply workers, as supermarkets continue to face devastating staff shortages.
The supply chain has been heavily affected by the Omicron variant, leading to empty shelves facing shoppers.
The changes come amid soaring cases in NSW, with the state facing its deadliest day ever yesterday.
NSW recorded 30,062 new cases and 16 deaths on Sunday.
The state government has also doubled its order of rapid antigen tests as the pivot away from PCR continues.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd said it was "likely" many Australians would test positive for COVID-19 over coming days and weeks if they hadn't already, but most wouldn't become seriously ill if vaccinated.
How Australia faced the emergence of the Omicron variant
"We obviously want to continue to do all we can to prevent people from being infected with COVID-19," he said.
"Nobody wants to be infected with a serious infectious disease.
"And although most people will have mild symptoms or no symptoms, some people are still going to become seriously unwell with COVID-19, and we want to prevent that from happening."
Professor Kidd suggested people should be prepared, with paracetamol or ibuprofen and other essential supplies because they would not be able to go to the pharmacy or supermarket if diagnosed.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMilQFodHRwczovL3d3dy45bmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvY29yb25hdmlydXMtbnN3LXVwZGF0ZXMtbmV3LWNhc2UtbnVtYmVycy1zY2hvb2wtdGVzdGluZy1ydWxlcy1pc29sYXRpb24tY2hhbmdlLzA5MTMxM2Q2LTc4ODAtNDgyYS1hNzFmLWQ4MGNjOTFiNGZkNNIBAA?oc=5
2022-01-10 09:20:00Z
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