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Authorities are warning Victorians to brace for a "significant increase" in Omicron COVID-19 cases, but are going ahead with relaxing some of the state's mandatory vaccination rules.

From 11.59pm on Wednesday, shoppers will no longer need to prove they are vaccinated to visit non-essential retail outlets.

Mandatory vaccination rules for weddings, funerals and real estate inspections and auctions will also be scrapped, as will showing proof of vaccination for those aged 18 and under.

However, hair and beauty customers must still be fully vaccinated, as do all patrons of restaurants, bars and cafes, including weddings and funerals held at hospitality venues.

Mask mandates will also continue in all retail settings and for hospitality workers, but will not be required at weddings and funerals.

Deep cleaning rules will be scrapped for workplaces, tour and transport operators, gyms, theatres and cinemas , while elective surgeries will rise to 75 per cent capacity in regional areas.

The changes, part of new pandemic orders signed by Health Minister Martin Foley on Wednesday, will remain in place until January 12.

"Those tweaks are of course informed largely by the relative uncertainty that the Omicron variant brings, as we start to learn more about what that means," Mr Foley told reporters in Melbourne.

Victoria recorded 1405 new cases and a further three deaths on Wednesday, with another four Omicron cases taking the state's total to 10.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton warned the state will see a "significant increase" in Omicron infections, as he pointed to New South Wales' case spike and widespread infections in Europe.

"The story globally is it is doubling every two-to-three days. It is replacing the Delta variant," he said.

"There's good evidence, and it's getting stronger by the day, that having had your booster shot will protect you even more from serious illness."

He said 720,000 Victorians are currently eligible for a booster, after the interval was moved from six to five months from the second jab.

Overall, Professor Sutton said 330,000 people who are eligible for a vaccine had not yet received a first dose.

"Our behavioural surveys tell us that maybe 150,000 of those are determined not to get a vaccine," he said.

Those remaining had not "gotten around to it or are ambivalent".

There are 365 people in hospital, 84 of whom are in intensive care and 46 on ventilators.

Prof Sutton said 73 per cent of those in hospital were not fully vaccinated and that number grew to 91 per cent of those in ICU.

It comes as more than 700 Victorians are being sent into isolation after attending two Melbourne nightclubs on Friday night.

A positive Omicron case visited Sircuit Bar in Fitzroy between 9pm and midnight and Collingwood's The Peel Hotel from 11.30pm to 3am.

About 410 people were at Sircuit and 320 were at the Peel during those times, with all deemed close contacts.

They must get a PCR test immediately and isolate at home for seven days if fully vaccinated, or 14 if not.

© AAP 2021

The daily tally of COVID-19 infections in NSW has jumped by more than 500, as the state braces for further surges with unvaccinated people now free to shop and socialise in NSW.

Some 1360 new cases were detected in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday, an increase of 556 on the 804 recorded the previous day.

A total of 110 cases the Omicron variant of concern have been confirmed, NSW Health says.

Infections have more than quadrupled in a week, and it is the first time in months the state has recorded more than a thousand new cases in a single day.

The last time the tally higher was on September 11, when 1599 new cases were detected.

But the number of hospitalisations and deaths in NSW are a fraction of what they were then.

There was one COVID-19 death on Tuesday - a fully vaccinated woman in her 90s who caught her infection at an aged care facility in southwest Sydney.

Meanwhile, 166 people are in hospital with the virus, with 24 of them in intensive care and seven requiring a ventilator to breathe.

That compares with eight deaths reported on September 11, when 1164 people were in hospital with COVID-19.

More than 220 of them were in intensive care and 94 were ventilated.

Only 44.5 per cent of the state's adult population was fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The number is now more than 93 per cent.

However, increases in hospitalisations generally lag spikes in infections.

But Deakin University epidemiologist Catherine Bennett says the latest outbreak is not as concerning as previous ones because it's primarily infecting a younger, vaccinated cohort and presenting as a milder illness.

"The good news is that so far we haven't seen that translate into a shift in hospitalisations," she said.

The latest infection numbers are not surprising, she says, because "we're in spreader event time pre-Christmas", with parties, large social events and end-of-school functions.

"We won't get in front of Omicron because it's moving as fast, if not faster than Delta," she told ABC TV.

Booster vaccines would be important to reduce transmission, she said.

The Hunter region is the biggest headache for authorities at the moment, with the region accounting for about a third of the state's new cases on Tuesday, with 424 infections.

The explosion in cases stems from super-spreader events in Newcastle.

Among them is an outbreak at the Argyle House nightclub on the night of December 8, with more than 200 out of 680 revellers since testing positive.

"It is likely that the overwhelming majority of the cases in Newcastle will be the Omicron variant of concern," NSW Health said.

Meanwhile, unvaccinated people in NSW are now subject to the same restrictions as those who have been fully jabbed, for the first time in three months.

The easing of restrictions, long planned for December 15, has gone ahead despite the spike in cases.

QR code check-ins have been scaled back and masks are only required in high-risk settings such as public transport.

There is no longer a cap on visitors in homes, hospitality venues, or on numbers at outdoor gatherings.

Meanwhile, NSW Health says fully vaccinated arrivals from eight southern African countries of concern where the Omicron variant of COVID-19 emerged will no longer have to enter 14 days hotel quarantine, bringing all international arrivals under the same measures.

All fully vaccinated international arrivals must self-isolate for 72 hours, have a negative result within the first 24 hours of arrival and avoid high-risk settings for a week.

© AAP 2021

Unvaccinated people are now free to shop and socialise in NSW and travellers arriving from southern African countries no longer have to quarantine.

The NSW government is honouring its pledge to significantly ease COVID-19 restrictions despite a sharp rise in COVID-19 case numbers amid super-spreading events in the festive season.

For the first time in three months, the same set of rules now applies to the vaccinated and the unvaccinated in NSW.

QR code check-ins will be scaled back and masks are only required only in high-risk settings like public transport and planes.

There's no cap on visitors in homes, hospitality venues, or on numbers at outdoor public gatherings.

Business NSW says dropping the QR check-in requirement to enter shops, and ditching the requirement for customers to show their vaccination status, will give business owners a much-needed boost in the countdown to Christmas.

"This is the early Christmas present business owners and their employees have been waiting for," Business NSW Chief Executive Daniel Hunter said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, NSW Health says fully-vaccinated arrivals from eight southern African countries of concern where the Omicron variant of COVID-19 emerged will no longer have to enter 14 days hotel quarantine, bringing all international arrivals under the same requirements.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said all fully-vaccinated international arrivals must self-isolate for 72-hours and have a negative result within the first 24 hours of arrival and avoid high-risk settings for a week.

The lifting of restrictions - long-planned for December 15 - comes just as case numbers spike to a two-month high.

Some 804 people tested positive for COVID-19 in NSW in the 24 hours to 8pm on Monday and infection numbers have quadrupled in the past two weeks.

They included 224 people in Newcastle, where super-spreading events at a nightclub and a pub have been identified.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 200 out of 680 revellers who were at the Argyle House nightclub on the night of December 8 had tested positive for the virus.

Of the new cases, 21 had the Omicron variant taking the total cases of the new strain to 85.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard on Tuesday urged people to get their booster shot as soon as they are eligible.

The current advice from the federal government's advisory group on vaccinations is that Australians can get a third jab five months after their second.

But Mr Hazzard told Sydney radio 2GB he would like to see that brought forward to four months or even sooner because protection drops off "fairly dramatically" after that period.

Some 94.8 per cent of eligible NSW adults have received at least one jab, with 93.2 per cent fully vaccinated.

Mr Hazzard urged those who haven't been vaccinated and are able to do so to reconsider.

© AAP 2021