Victoria has recorded just one new COVID case overnight as the entire state awaits an announcement on the further easing of restrictions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The new case confirmed in the 24 hours until midnight last night has been closely linked to previous cases, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
The low number of positive cases is now highly likely to result in the easing of restrictions at 11.59pm on Thursday night.
There were 28,845 tests returned yesterday and 19,533 vaccinations administered.
Melbourne's strict two-week lockdown is expected to end, while regional Victoria is likely to have restrictions eased even further.
The 10km limit on travel from home is likely to be extended to 25km after Acting Premier James Merlino flagged Melbourne residents will be unable to enter regional Victoria over the Queen's Birthday long weekend.
"It remains the public health advice that for a period of time we will have different settings between regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne," Mr Merlino told reporters on Tuesday.
"That will extend beyond any announcements that we will make later in the week.
"There is very good reasons for that. We absolutely want to run this into the ground and ensure that there's no risk of this spreading out into regional Victoria."
A final decision on eased restrictions for Melbourne and regional Victoria is expected to be finalised on Wednesday morning.
IN OTHER NEWS
It comes as authorities investigate a link between an outbreak of the more infectious Delta strain and a hotel quarantine case, a man in his 40s, who returned from Sri Lanka on May 8.
Genomic sequencing shows his infection is identical to one of two families linked to the North Melbourne Primary School, which has emerged as the epicentre of the West Melbourne outbreak.
How the virus spread between the two groups remains a mystery.
Deputy Chief Health Officer Allen Cheng said there were four main theories, with the most likely being the man transmitted the virus to a staff member while in transit or to a fellow guest inside one of the hotels.
It may have then entered the community.
Emma Cassar, the head of COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria, said the man also mistakenly opened his room door soon after entering hotel quarantine but she doesn't believe the incident is responsible for the virus escaping.
Victoria's deadly second wave of coronavirus last year was sparked from leaks in hotel quarantine, leading to a major overhaul of the hotel quarantine system.
The state reported two new cases on Tuesday, with one linked to the West Melbourne outbreak and the other the Arcare Maidstone cluster.
We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we aim to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.