Scott Morrison holds phone call with Daniel Andrews to persuade him to let Victorians come home from regional New South Wales

Scott Morrison phoned Daniel Andrews on Monday night to persuade him to let people who have visited regional New South Wales back into Victoria.

The premier shut the state's border to the whole of NSW on New Year's Day due to a coronavirus outbreak in Sydney, leaving tens of thousands of residents who went away for Christmas unable to get home. 

Mr Morrison called Mr Andrews, who is on a week of leave, and urged him to relax his hard border. 

Police officers patrol and check for entry permits to Victoria at a border checkpoint on December 29

Mr Morrison said there was no virus in regional NSW so Victoria has no reason to keep the border closed to people who have not been to Greater Sydney. 

'The wastewater testing had no positive results for Covid outside the Greater Sydney metropolitan region and other hotspot areas like Wollongong,' he told 3AW radio on Tuesday morning. 

'It's the same situation as rural and regional Victoria and Melbourne. So there is an opportunity to work through those issues, and we will provide what support we can for a better pathway home for Victorians.' 

Mr Morrison did not reveal if Mr Andrews was receptive to his plea. 

Victorians stuck interstate include a stranded family with a disabled child and another with special needs.

More than 2,300 applications have been made for exemptions to cross the NSW border after it slammed shut on Friday night, with only 175 processed on Sunday.

Testing commander Jeroen Weimar said medical exemptions are being processed quickly but others are taking 24 to 48 hours.

Former federal Labor leader Bill Shorten has revealed a family stuck on the NSW south coast contacted him in a bid to speed up their border exemption.

'I've been dealing with a constituent of mine,' Mr Shorten told Nine's Today.

Mr Morrison called Mr Andrews , who is on a week of leave, and urged him to relax his hard border

'Her and her husband they've got a disabled child and another child with special needs.

'Far better to have this child, this 11-year-old, looked at home, rather than stuck in south coast NSW.'

The former federal opposition leader said he would be 'hitting the phones' on Tuesday to ensure their exemption was sorted out.

He said the exemption system 'doesn't seem to be working the way it should' and implored Victoria's health department to speed up the assessment process.

'Let's just get it done quickly,' Mr Shorten said.

'A whole lot of Victorians on holiday (have been) caught off guard, no chance to sort this out.

'We need now the administrative follow-up to help make sure people are not stranded in some really tough circumstances, like the lady I'm talking about.'  

Victoria recorded three new locally acquired coronavirus infections on Tuesday. Pictured: Melburnians wear face masks as they walk on Sunday

On Tuesday Victoria recorded three new locally acquired coronavirus infections as thousands of residents are plunged into self-isolation.

Health authorities are confident the Black Rock coronavirus cluster is on a 'very positive trajectory' after it climbed to 24 cases on Monday.

The three new cases reported on Tuesday came after 32,544 coronavirus tests were conducted across the state.

It is not yet known if the new infections are linked to the Black Rock outbreak - which was initially connected to the Buffalo Smile Thai restaurant.

There was also one Covid-19 case reported in a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

The state's number of active cases stands at 38.

Melbourne's cluster is linked to a mystery outbreak on Sydney's northern beaches which emerged on 16 December and numbers 148 cases.

With AAP