Case numbers jumped by 3836 from the previous day and the number of people in hospital increased by five to 1293, with 71 of those people in ICU.
Meanwhile health officials from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee are reportedly considering scrapping the requirement for asymptomatic household contacts of COVID-positive people to isolate for seven days.
The plan, being considered by NSW and Victorian health officials, would mean people who have received a booster shot would be able to leave isolation to go to work, according to a report in Nine Newspapers.
On Monday NSW celebrated the return of international travellers arriving at Sydney Airport for the first time in almost two years.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the return of international travel was "phenomenal" and the government was leading the reopening of a $38 million tourism industry.
"There is probably no industry that has done it tougher over the last two years than the tourism sector," Stuart Ayres, Tourism Minister said.
Mr Ayres encouraged people to book their travel through a travel agent, organise accommodation through local providers and and support local businesses as the state opened up.
On the same day, a long-running dispute between the rail union and the NSW government halted all trains, as rail workers were locked out of work by Sydney Trains, bringing the city to a sudden standstill.
The government blamed the Rail, Tram and Bus Union for the shutdown, with the premier referring to it as a "co-ordinated, concerted attack", however NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said workers were not striking and had been ready to work "at a minute's notice".
A limited rail service is now running across Greater Sydney, with all Sydney Train lines running on all stops at a minimum frequency of every 30 minutes.
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