Victoria records another coronavirus case in hotel quarantine after five international travellers tested positive

Victoria has recorded one new Covid-19 case in hotel quarantine after reporting five new cases the previous day. 

The state's 42-day COVID-free streak came to an end on Saturday, with five cases of the virus uncovered in the state's revamped hotel quarantine system.

One more case was then reported on Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases in the state to six.  

However no locally-acquired cases were reported for a 44th straight day.  

The hotel quarantine program was kickstarted again on Monday after the state welcomed back international travellers for the first time since the horror second wave.

Victoria has recorded another Covid-19 case in hotel quarantine after reporting five new cases the day before. Pictured: International travellers arriving at hotel quarantine in Melbourne on Monday

Authorities did warn that there would inevitably be COVID-19 cases once international flights resumed on December 7 (pictured, Melbourne residents on Bourke Street)

A majority of infections in the second wave were linked back to failures in the state-run hotel quarantine scheme.

Infections spread from travellers to security guards then into their families and the community. 

Authorities did warn that there would inevitably be COVID-19 cases once international flights resumed on December 7.  

Acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said Australia's hotel quarantine programs have to be impenetrable as the Covid-19 pandemic rages beyond our shores.  

With record deaths and global coronavirus infection rates skyrocketing, Mr Kelly said Australia was in an enviable but delicate position.

He said he had 'all confidence' in the Victorian contact tracing system now it had been revamped and international flights had resumed coming into Melbourne since Monday.

The focus, while there was no vaccine being rolled out, was on the robustness of hotel quarantine, he said.

Victoria's 42-day COVID-free streak came to an end on Saturday, with five cases of the virus uncovered in the state's revamped hotel quarantine system (Novotel, South Wharf Hotel)

With record deaths and global coronavirus infection rates skyrocketing, Mr Kelly said Australia was in an enviable but delicate position (pictured, residents enjoy the sun on Melbourne's Bourke Street)

'Whilst we're concentrated on bringing Australians home ... we have to make sure absolutely that our hotel quarantine system is the very best it can be,' he said.

Prof Kelly said that despite the US, UK and Canada giving emergency authorisation for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Australia would not be doing this.

'We don't need any vaccine this year,' Prof Kelly said.

'Other countries are in far different state than us and they should be prioritised.' 

Meanwhile, Business Victoria says 40,000 vouchers offered as part of the first round of the state's Regional Travel Voucher Scheme have run out.

Holidaymakers hoping to snap up one of the Victorian government's $200 regional tourism offers prompted the application website to crash within minutes on Friday morning, having opened at 10am.

Hotel quarantine workers in full PPE in Melbourne as they ask recently arrived international travellers to get off the bus

Those intending to spend two or more nights in regional Victoria between Saturday and January 22, 2021 were able to apply.

Business Victoria said the website received 800,000 visits by Friday at 5pm.

Eligible destinations under the $28million scheme, announced as part of a $300 million state budget tourism package last month, include the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Bellarine Peninsula.

'If those $200 vouchers mean people stay an extra night, maybe go to a local pub or restaurant. That's all about wages and spending and investment,' Premier Daniel Andrews said on Thursday.

Victorian residents can apply even if their travel has already been booked.

While the first round of vouchers is exhausted, a second application window will open for trips between January 27 and April 1. A third round will be available between April 6 and May 31.

Opposition tourism spokeswoman Cindy McLeish labelled the launch a 'flop'.