NSW has reported a drop in the number of COVID-19 hospitalisations with the Omicron wave expected to peak this week.
The state recorded 25 COVID-19 deaths following two of the deadliest days for NSW since the pandemic began.
One person who died was in their 30s and although they had received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, they had serious underlying health conditions.
Sixteen people had received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, one person had received one dose and eight were not vaccinated.
The number of people with the virus in the state's hospitals has decreased to 2,781 compared to 2,863 in the previous reporting period.
ICU admissions were down slightly to 212, compared to the 217 reported yesterday, and 68 people require ventilation.
A total of 30,825 new cases were reported — 13,178 from rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 17,647 from a total of 73,259 PCR tests.
Out of the 13,000 RATs, 11,034 were positive tests from the previous seven days and NSW Health continues to warn that some people may be counted twice if they have reported more than one RAT or also had a PCR test.
NSW government modelling predicted the Omicron wave would peak this week followed by a stabilisation of hospital numbers.
Nearly 30 per cent of the state's eligible population have had their booster shot and 93.8 per cent of those aged 16 and over have had two doses.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet this morning told ABC News Breakfast his government was still finalising its back-to-school plan which would be presented at national cabinet today.
He said RATs would be a cornerstone of the plan but would not be drawn on how many tests students and teachers would be expected to take each week.
"We do see, at least in the short-term, surveillance testing providing some role as we get kids back in the classroom," he said.
"It's not going to be perfect ... it will look a bit different to how schooling has been in normal times but ... I have confidence we'll be able to have schooling commence as seamlessly as possible."
Mr Perrottet said final year teaching students would be on stand-by to fill any gaps left when teachers have to isolate due to COVID-19 and a call-out had been made for retired teachers to roll up their sleeves again.
Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said experienced teachers who now work in the education department were also being encouraged to head back to the classroom.
"We are also appealing to our part-time staff to take up a full-time role, particularly over the first term as we expect to see the impact of Omicron," Ms Mitchell said.
Students in NSW begin to return to school from January 28.
Intensive care nurses at Westmead Hospital yesterday held a protest over understaffing and unsustainable work pressure, arguing patient and staff safety were being compromised.
Mr Perrottet said despite the pressure on health workers, he was confident the state would "move through" and his government was not considering activating a "code brown" like Victoria did yesterday.
"We have already made a number of changes here in our state. We deferred non-urgent elective surgery, we're working very closely with the private health system," he said.
"We are confident here as we sit, that we have the capacity to manage, and the investments that we've made in the past have ensured that's the case."
