A third of Victoria's COVID-19 cases are the Omicron variant, as ICU wards are filled with unvaccinated patients.
Victoria Health Minister Martin Foley said the highly-transmissible, but milder strain, is not currently the dominant strain in the state however said it's quickly moving to be.
There were 5919 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the state overnight, along with seven further deaths.
"It is brought up from very little a few weeks ago," Mr Foley said today.
"We expect if it hasn't become the majority at the moment it will become the majority of all cases."
Seven more people died with the virus, and 428 are in hospital. The figures are up slightly from yesterday, with 5137 recorded.
There are currently 54 cases being treated in ICUs across the state, 21 of whom require ventilation.
Mr Foley said an entire floor of an ICU ward at one of Melbourne's hospitals is filled with unvaccinated people suffering from COVID-19.
"I was down at the Alfred ICU a few days ago, that ICU has been expanded from one floor to three floors," he said.
"It was certainly an eyeopener for those hardworking frontline ICU professionals to point me to an entire floor of that ICU only being filled with people who are not fully vaccinated."
He urged all Victorians to get vaccinated to prevent hospitalisations.
Mr Foley said it will now be up to COVID-19 cases in Victoria to tell household contacts they have been exposed.
"It will now be up to positive cases to take reasonable steps to tell their household contacts that they are a contact and they will either need to quarantine or get a test depending on their particular circumstance," he said.
Mr Foley said most COVID-19 cases will be managed in a "domestic setting".
He added the only people who should go for PCR tests are those with symptoms or who have tested positive on a rapid antigen test.
Commander of Victoria's COVID-19 response Jeroen Weimer said some testing clinics in the state will close today due to the heat.
"We are doing a site by site assessment of testing system where we particularly have outdoor testing facilities, we are closing some of those sites as the temperature in those tents starts to rise," he said.
A severe heat warning remains in place for outdoor facilities with temperatures expected to reach 38C today.
Clinics were closed yesterday for health and safety reasons in the heat and with temperatures expected to stay around 28C into the evening.
Close contact isolation changes
Mr Foley said the new isolation periods for close contacts announced in yesterday's National Cabinet meeting are an "extension" of Victoria's previous measures.
"These new pandemic measures are really an extension of where Victoria's previous settings were," he said.
"Which has sought to reduce the isolation burden for those people who need to do so."
Mr Foley said the new rules both support the testing system and contain the risk of the spread of Omicron.
National Cabinet has agreed a close-contact is someone who lives with or has spent at least four hours with a positive case.
Close-contacts and positive cases only need to spend seven days in quarantine if you live in NSW, Victoria the ACT, South Australia and Queensland.
PCR tests will now be reserved for those who have symptoms in order to take pressure off testing lines.
As 2021 comes to an end, health authorities have warned residents across the state to practice caution tonight, and avoid large gatherings and enclosed spaces where social distancing can't be monitored.
Venues are sold-out across the city, with Acting Premier James Merlino warning crowds need to "take their own risks" and make their own decisions tonight.
How Australia faced the emergence of the Omicron variant
New South Wales recorded a massive jump in case numbers today, amassing a total of 21,151 new infections and another six deaths.
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