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A COVID-positive teenage girl with other health conditions has become the youngest Victorian to die during the current outbreak.

Victoria's COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar on Saturday confirmed a 15-year-old girl had died while infected with the virus.

She was among seven deaths reported over the past 24 hours, with the others involving three men and two women aged in their 50s to 80s.

Their deaths takes the toll from the current COVID-19 outbreak to 138.

"That is a sad and tragic case, we won't be making more comments on her. But we will send our best wishes to her family and the family of all those who have lost their lives with COVID, particularly in the last 24 hours," Mr Weimar told reporters.

Victoria reported a further 1993 locally acquired infections on Saturday, as its active cases jumped to 21,600.

Almost 80,000 virus tests were conducted on Friday, while more than 40,000 vaccine doses were administered at state-run hubs as the state closes in on its 70 per cent full vaccination target.

Mr Weimar said 88.5 per cent of Victoria's over-16 population have now had one vaccine dose and 64.3 per cent both.

Meanwhile, the Victorian government is under fire over a COVID-19 restriction "anomaly" that will let fully vaccinated people from NSW travel across the state before Melbourne residents.

Doubled-dosed Victorians and non-residents from "red zones" such as Greater Sydney will be able to enter Victoria without quarantining for 14 days from 11.59pm on October 19.

They must still return a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before arrival in Victoria, and then isolate, get tested again within 72 hours and remain in isolation until they receive a negative result.

Fully vaccinated travellers from "orange zones" will also no longer be required to get tested or isolate upon arrival.

The permit changes, which do not apply to unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people, open the door for Victorians to reunite with family and friends from NSW weeks before those in the state's regions.

Melburnians are currently subject to a 15 kilometre travel limit, which will expand to 25km when 70 per cent of people over 16 are fully vaccinated, and regional travel is banned until it hits 80 per cent coverage under the state's roadmap.

When pressed on the inconsistency on Friday, Health Minister Martin Foley told reporters to "take a chill pill".

"There will of course be transitional anomalies but as we get to 70 and 80 per cent, as per the roadmap, they will evaporate," he said.

Shadow Treasurer David Davis said it was "bizarre" and "strange" Sydneysiders would be able to go to any part of Victoria and follow local restrictions rules, while he couldn't visit his father on the Mornington Peninsula.

"It clearly doesn't make sense that you can have people flow in from NSW in that way and yet 5.5 million Melburnians are locked down," he said.

Premier Daniel Andrews is expected to announce the exact date Melbourne will exit its sixth lockdown on Sunday, with the state to hit 70 per cent full vaccination ahead of schedule next week.

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NSW has recorded two deaths from COVID-19 and 319 new locally-acquired cases, the state's lowest daily case number in more than two months.

The number of people in hospital also continues to fall, now at 652, 25 fewer than reported on Friday.

Some 138 of those are in intensive care, seven fewer than the previous day.

The deaths were a man in his 60s from Sydney's inner west who had received one vaccine dose, and an unvaccinated woman in her 90s from southeastern Sydney.

They take the death toll of the current outbreak to 460.

NSW Health's Jeremy McAnulty urged NSW residents to get tested as testing numbers dropped by nearly 20,000 to 66,311.

"High testing numbers are still vital in finding cases so that we can suppress the spread as much as possible to keep the community safe," he said in a video update.

Meanwhile, the state government will fund additional skills training and fast-track social housing builds as part of its COVID-19 recovery plan.

Some $183 million will go towards building 1400 social and affordable homes, as well as providing more rent assistance in places hit hard by the virus, Treasurer Matt Kean announced on Saturday.

The government's also putting $100 million towards extending the JobTrainer program, which allows people to skill up for free or a low cost.

The money will also fund ICT traineeships for the public sector, traineeships for Aboriginal students, and school-based apprenticeships, Premier Dominic Perrottet said.

NSW is rapidly approaching the next stage of reopening as it looks set to hit 80 per cent vaccination coverage as early as Saturday.

According to the latest figures, 78.8 per cent of residents over 16 are fully vaccinated. Some 91.7 per cent have had at least one dose.

If the 80 per cent mark is reached on Saturday or Sunday, NSW will progress to the next phase of its reopening roadmap on Monday.

That will mean the return of community sport, the removal of caps on weddings and funerals, and the return of dancing at hospitality venues.

But Sydneysiders wishing to travel to the regions will have to wait a little longer, Premier Dominic Perrottet announced on Friday.

That freedom has been delayed to November 1, to give those in the regions time to get their second dose.

That date will also see the state drop hotel quarantine and isolation requirements for fully vaccinated international arrivals.

The move was heralded on Friday as a "massive step towards life as we knew it" by Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

In response, the airline has brought forward the restart of its international flights by two weeks, with tickets from London and Los Angeles to Sydney on sale.

Flights from other destinations - like Singapore, Fiji and Vancouver - may also become available earlier than expected, the airline said on Friday.

"We have thousands of our pilots and cabin crew wanting to get back to work and they will be thrilled at today's announcement," Mr Joyce said.

"It will still be a long time before international travel returns to normal but this is a fantastic start."

Singapore Airlines will on Saturday afternoon open bookings for 17 weekly flights between Singapore and Sydney.

The carrier has been operating one flight per day on the route due to quarantine caps.

The move has made NSW the first Australian jurisdiction to partially abandon the quarantine requirement.

But Prime Minister Scott Morrison clarified the federal government won't issue visas to facilitate quarantine-free entry for skilled workers, international students or tourists just yet.

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The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says it will accept mixed-dose COVID-19 vaccines from international travellers, a boost to travellers from Canada and other places.

The CDC said last week it would accept any vaccine authorised for use by US regulators or the World Health Organisation.

"While CDC has not recommended mixing types of vaccine in a primary series, we recognise that this is increasingly common in other countries so should be accepted for the interpretation of vaccine records," a CDC spokeswoman said.

Representative Brian Higgins, a New York Democrat representing a district along the Canadian border, had on Friday asked the CDC if it would accept the mixed vaccine doses noting "nearly four million Canadians, equivalent to 10 per cent of their fully vaccinated population, have received mixed doses of the available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines - this includes the AstraZeneca vaccine."

The CDC said the vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use, as well as those authorised by the WHO, will be accepted for entry into the United States, including the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The CDC said "individuals who have any combination of two doses of an FDA approved/authorised or WHO emergency use listed COVID-19 two-dose series are considered fully vaccinated".

The CDC plans to answer other questions and release a contact tracing order for international air visitors by October 25.

Meanwhile, the US will lift travel restrictions for fully-vaccinated international visitors from November 8, ending historic restrictions that had barred much of the world from entering the country for as long as 21 months.

The unprecedented travel restrictions kept millions of visitors out of the United States from China, Canada, Mexico, Australia, India, Brazil, much of Europe and elsewhere; shrunk US tourism and hurt border community economies. They prevented many loved ones and foreign workers from reuniting with families.

US allies had heavily lobbied the Biden administration to lift the rules. Many praised Friday's announcement, including Sweden's ambassador to the United States Karin Olofsdotter, who called it "very welcoming news".

© RAW 2021