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Flooded communities in eastern Victoria will get some respite before the return of rain on Wednesday, after wild weather left many without power and caused major road closures.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Miriam Bradbury said heavy rains lashed central and eastern Gippsland over the weekend with some parts receiving up to 280mm over the two days.

"Soil throughout Gippsland was already wet because of the above average rainfall over summer which meant the rivers caused moderate flooding over the weekend," she told AAP on Monday.

She said showers had eased during Monday and river levels were expected to fall over coming days, with moderate and minor flood warnings in place.

Another weather system is expected to reach Gippsland on Wednesday, bringing more rain to the area.

"There is a risk of renewed flooding, which is something to be aware of," Ms Bradbury said.

The BOM has forecast a wet and grey start to the school holidays, but nothing comparable to the weekend.

But if climate modelling is right, it could also be a wet Easter - with above average rainfall forecast from April to June.

Holiday makers will be hoping for the region to dry out, as many take the currently closed Princes Highway to make their way to popular tourism hotspots in NSW, including Eden and Merimbula.

The Princes Highway, between Orbost and Genoa, and the Monaro Highway are closed due to flooding, fallen trees and landslips.

Numerous homes in the region are without power, with Mallacoota, Cann River and Marlo the worst affected.

Ausnet head of communications Karen Winsbury said a combination of heavy rain and road closures prevented teams, including helicopters, accessing the region overnight.

By 3pm Monday power was restored to 1100 customers in Mallacoota and crews were working to restore 800 more services across Gippsland.

A spokeswoman for the SES said it received fewer calls than expected.

There had been 62 calls for help in East Gippsland over the previous 24 hours, she said on Monday.

A specialist team with a boat was positioned in the area overnight, but was not needed.

© AAP 2022

More than half a million Australians are dealing with COVID-19 infections as authorities begin to roll out a second booster for vulnerable groups.

Experts say a fourth jab will be critical in the effort to protect at-risk Australians ahead of winter, with a surge in cases of the virus and influenza looming.

The number of active cases in Australia has climbed above the 500,000 mark for the first time since late-January, when the initial Omicron wave receded.

Around one-in-five PCR tests are coming back positive in Western Australia which is still in the midst of its first major outbreak.

People aged 65 and older, Indigenous Australians aged at least 50, disability care residents and the immunocompromised are among those able to receive their fourth dose from Monday.

An estimated 4.7 million people will be eligible to get a fourth dose but it is expected fewer than 200,000 will meet requirements at the start of the rollout.

People can have a second booster shot four months after receiving their first.

"The issue is the pandemic is not over," infectious diseases physician Peter Collignon told AAP.

"At the moment it does appear for the very vulnerable groups there is a benefit (of the booster).

"The decline in antibodies over time is what the booster doses address, but at the moment there is limited data on whether it reduces the number of infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

"We do know the longer the doses are spaced, the better the antibody protection and there's no doubt if you're an adult you need to be vaccinated with at least two doses."

Professor Collignon expects further data to be available in the next three months, as countries like Israel and the United Kingdom complete their fourth doses.

But it is important for the world to focus on making sure all countries are able to vaccinate their populations to reduce the risk of the virus mutating further, he said.

"Global vaccine access is imperative ... if we don't make sure other countries are vaccinated it puts everyone's progress and protection at risk," Prof Collignon said.

The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee expects an infection peak will hit in mid-April in several jurisdictions.

Comprised of chief health officers from across the country, the group says it is considering recommending the removal of quarantine for COVID-19 close contacts.

It says isolation could be replaced by frequent rapid antigen testing, mask wearing outside the house and limiting access of close contacts to high-risk settings.

Australia reported more than 45,000 new COVID-19 infections and 14 additional deaths with the virus on Monday.

LATEST 24-HOUR COVID-19 DATA FROM ACROSS AUSTRALIA:

NSW: 15,572 cases, six deaths, 1418 in hospital, 56 in ICU

Victoria: 10,011 cases, one death, 305 in hospital, 17 in ICU

Tasmania: 1725 cases, no deaths, 40 in hospital, one in ICU

Queensland: 7707 cases, one death, 437 in hospital, 14 in ICU

ACT: 739 cases, no deaths, 45 in hospital, 4 in ICU

Western Australia: 6082 cases, six historical deaths, 231 in hospital, six in ICU

Northern Territory: 304 cases, no deaths, 14 in hospital, one in ICU

South Australia: 4595 cases, no deaths, 209 in hospital, eight in ICU

© AAP 2022

Multi-genre artist Jon Batiste has won album of the year and R&B duo Silk Sonic took two of the top honours at a Grammy awards ceremony that featured a surprise appeal for support from wartime President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine.

Batiste, who leads the band on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, landed five awards overall, including the night's biggest prize for We Are, a jazz album inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I believe this to my core - there is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective," Batiste said. "I just put my head down and I work on the craft every day."

Batiste's other wins included best music video for Freedom, a vibrantly coloured tribute to New Orleans, and an award for composing and arranging of songs for animated Pixar movie Soul.

Silk Sonic, featuring Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak, claimed the song and record of the year awards for their 1970s inspired hit Leave the Door Open. The pair rose from their seats and danced slowly before making their way to the stage.

"We are really trying our hardest to remain humble at this point," joked Paak as the pair accepted the second honour.

Olivia Rodrigo, the 19-year-old singer of heartbreak ballad Drivers License on her album Sour, scored three awards, including best new artist.

"This is my biggest dream come true. Thank you so much!" Rodrigo said as she held her trophy.

Midway through the ceremony, host Trevor Noah introduced a video message from Zelenskiy, who contrasted the joy found through music to the devastation caused by Russia's invasion of his country more than a month ago.

"What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people," Zelenskiy, wearing a green T-shirt, said in a hoarse voice.

"Fill the silence with your music," he added. "Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence."

The remarks preceded a John Legend performance that featured two Ukrainian musicians and a Ukrainian poet.

The highest honours in music were postponed from January during a spike in COVID-19 cases and moved from Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Stars walked a red carpet and thousands of spectators packed the venue, a contrast to last year's scaled-down outdoor event.

Noah urged the audience to think of the evening as "a concert where we are handing out awards".

"We are going to be keeping people's names out of our mouths," Noah added, a jab about actor Will Smith, who a week ago slapped comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars and told him not to mention his wife's name.

Korean pop band BTS, a global phenomenon that has never won a Grammy, left empty-handed again. But the group delivered a high-octane performance of their hit Butter, dodging laser beams in what looked like a scene out of a heist movie.

Rock band Foo Fighters, whose drummer Taylor Hawkins died a little over a week ago, won three awards, including best rock album for Medicine at Midnight. No one from the band appeared to accept the trophies.

Winners were chosen by some 11,000 voting members of the Recording Academy.

In comedy categories, comedian Louis C.K. won best album for Sincerely Louis C.K., his first comedy special since he admitted to sexual misconduct in 2017.

© AP 2022