A woman in her 50s and another in her 70s have died with COVID-19 in Newcastle hospitals.
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Both women were fully vaccinated but had underlying health conditions.
The younger woman, from Newcastle local government area, died at Calvary Mater Newcastle.
The woman in her 70s, from Cessnock LGA, died at John Hunter Hospital.
Hunter New England Health reported the fatalities on Sunday afternoon among 10 new deaths in NSW.
The health district reported 73 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, almost a quarter of the state total of 301.
The new cases included 19 in Newcastle LGA, 17 in Maitland, 16 in Lake Macquarie, 12 in Cessnock, six in MidCoast LGA, two in Port Stephens and one in Singleton.
Thirty-three of the cases were infectious in the community, 15 have not been linked to previous known cases and 13 are under investigation.
Hunter hospitals are treating 26 COVID-19 patients, three of whom are in intensive care.
At a state level, COVID-19 case numbers continue to fall, six days after NSW started reopening social and economic activity.
Sunday's NSW figure of 301 new cases was the lowest daily tally in more than two months and down from 477 a week ago.
The state's COVID-19 patients include 619 in hospital and 137 in intensive care.
NSW reached its second target of 80 per cent adult double-dose vaccination on Friday, triggering a range of relaxed restrictions from Monday.
The single-dose rate crept up to 92 per cent on Saturday, and double-dose coverage was at 80.31 per cent. No other state has a double-dose rate above 70 per cent.
More than 90 per cent of the NSW population aged over 70 has received two doses, as have 34 per cent of children aged 12 to 15.
Kindergarten, year 1 and year 12 students return to face-to-face schooling on Monday, and other years will follow on October 25.
The new freedoms for the fully vaccinated include the return of community sport, an increased home visitor limit of 20 people, the scrapping of mandatory masks in offices and no caps on weddings and funerals.
Pub patrons will be allowed to drink standing up and dance, but the government has delayed regional travel to and from Sydney until November 1.
The federal government announced on Sunday that Australians stuck on New Zealand's South Island could return home from midnight on Tuesday without going into quarantine.
Across Australia, 84.6 per cent of those aged 16 and over has received one vaccine dose and 67.8 per cent has received both.