Health authorities say 1614 people are in hospital with the virus, 93 of whom are in intensive care, after the number of hospitalisations fell below 2000 on Wednesday for the first time since January.

On Saturday the Australian Medical Association NSW joined a campaign from their federal counterpart calling on the Commonwealth to "pay their fair share for public hospitals".

The AMA is aiming to make hospital funding a major issue for the upcoming election, and wants an agreement struck for 50-50 funding between the federal and state governments.

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The group said its campaign was aimed at highlighting chronic underfunding which it says has contributed to ambulance ramping, emergency waiting times and delays in elective surgery.

"Public hospitals were under pressure before the pandemic, but COVID really exposed the cracks in our system. Staff under-resourcing remains a difficult issue in NSW," AMA NSW president Danielle McMullen said.

On Friday the government defended its handling of the pandemic during the Omicron wave.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant along with other senior NSW Health staff, healthcare unions and academics fronted state parliament's public accountability committee.

In his evidence, Mr Hazzard brushed off queries from the committee, chaired by Greens MP David Shoebridge, that he was warned the December 15 scale back of restrictions would led to "death and despair" in aged care.

The minister also denied suggestions that, regarding Omicron, the government had "let it rip" over summer against health advice, insisting at the inquiry that the community knew it was trying its best.

"Nothing has been done lightly, it's been done with great gravity," Hazzard noted labelling the state's death rate, currently about 1600, as "infinitesimally small" compared to other countries.

Aged Care and Community Services chief executive Paul Sadler accused the government of knowing the aged sector was unprepared for the Omicron outbreak, but went head with relaxing COVID-19 restrictions in December anyway.

It was the first hearing since September as the government loosened lockdown rules.

Australian Associated Press