Australia's Melbourne relaxes restrictions despite local cases

Victoria has recorded two new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 just hours before a string of restrictions were set to be relaxed.

The total number of COVID-19 cases linked to this quarantine hotel reached 24, according to the state's health department. They had already been isolating at home during their infectious period, meaning they posed no further risk to the community.

On Thursday, there were 16 active COVID-19 cases in Victoria, four fewer than Wednesday, following results from 18,282 tests processed on the day before.

In late December, Victoria restricted gatherings at homes to 15 people from 30 and made masks mandatory indoors after new infections were detected in the community.

The current limit is at five but this could be bumped up to 30.

Face coverings must be worn when travelling on public transport or in a commercial passenger vehicle - such as a taxi or uber - or tour vehicle, when visiting a hospital and when visiting or working in a care facility.

"They have been in hotel isolation due to their household circumstances, they had sought to isolate away from other family members.so they pose no risk to public health more broadly", state Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters. The outbreak was linked to the highly transmissable United Kingdom variant of the virus.

At the same time, the state still recorded two locally acquired cases on Friday and both of them were linked to the Holiday Inn cluster, which triggered the third lockdown of Melbourne earlier this month.

"We were on the cusp of moving to that setting when we had our most recent challenges, so I am very pleased - based on public health advice from the Chief Health Officer - we were able to make those adjustments as well", Premier Dan Andrews said.

People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your jurisdiction's restrictions on gathering limits.