Hunter New England Health said on Tuesday morning that two men - one in his 70s from Cessnock and the other in his 90s from Newcastle - were among the 18 people with the virus who lost their lives in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday.

There are 50 patients with COVID-19 in hospital across the local health district - two of them in intensive care.

The region recorded 1304 fresh cases in the 24-hour period - 1021 detected by rapid antigen tests and 283 by PCR tests.

It came as 9690 new cases were detected across NSW - an increase of 2253 from the previous 24 hours.

The number of patients in the state's hospitals fell by 31 to 2068, with 132 people in intensive care, 61 of them on ventilators.

Twelve men and six women died. Five were unvaccinated and three had received a booster shot.

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