NEW CASES: 172 (up from 164 yesterday)

ACTIVE CASES: 1250 (up from 1239 yesterday)

Ballarat has reported an increase in new and active COVID cases on Monday.

There are 172 new infections reported in the 24 hours to midnight Sunday, compared to 164 in the previous reporting period.

The number of active cases has also risen to 1250, up from 1239 yesterday.

In other areas:

Victoria has recorded another 5852 COVID-19 infections and three more people have died with the virus.

The new cases include 4329 from rapid antigen tests and 1523 from PCR lab tests, the health department said on Monday.

There are 41,205 active cases in the state.

The number of people in hospital has risen by nine from Sunday, with 283 infected people in hospital.

Of these, 42 are in intensive care and seven on ventilation.

About 58.9 per cent of Victorian adults have received three vaccine doses.

The latest figures come as more Victorian workers return to offices on Monday.

The state government's work-from-home recommendation has been lifted as mask rules eased across the state late last week.

Face coverings are only required when using public transport and taxis, or visiting airports and hospitals.

But hospitality and retail workers, primary school and early childhood staff, and justice and correctional facility employees must continue wearing them.

High school students can remove theirs in class but primary school children in grades 3 to 6 still have to wear them for now.

All elective surgery is also resuming on Monday after it was halted in January as hospitals and health services came under increasing pressure due to the Omicron wave.

The Victorian government has also confirmed its COVID-19 isolation payment system has been scrapped.

Victorians will no longer be able to claim a $450 while awaiting a "gold standard" PCR test result.

The test isolation payment will end on Tuesday, with demand reducing as rapid antigen tests become more widely available.

More than 1.2 million payments worth about $545 million have been approved since the system began in July 2020 during the state's devastating second wave of infections.

Final claims must be submitted before 9am on Wednesday and involve a PCR test taken on Tuesday or before.

Payments will still be available for Victorians who have to self-isolate, quarantine or need to care for someone in self-isolation or quarantine under the federal government's pandemic leave disaster payment.

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