Victoria has recorded another two COVID-related deaths.
There were 7,847 new COVID-19 infections reported to health authorities on Friday, taking the total number of active infections to 49,022.
The number of active cases has been trending upwards, rising from 40,606 seven days earlier.
Health authorities say the tally of new cases comprises 5,134 positive rapid antigen test results and 2,713 from PCR swabs.
The number of new infections is lower than three days earlier, when more than 9,000 new cases were reported, but the seven-day average continues to rise.
The uptick is not a surprise to health authorities, who expect an upwards trend over the next few months as the new BA.2 sub-variant spreads and people spend more time indoors without masks.
Health authorities said the BA.2 variant has been detected in 95 per cent of Victoria's wastewater surveillance catchments.
There are 210 patients with the virus in Victorian hospitals, up from 199 a day earlier.
Of the people in hospital, 23 are in intensive care units and five are on ventilators.
The number of people in intensive care units remains steady, at the lowest figures seen in the state since September.
Victorian AMA warns against rushing close contact changes
The head of Victoria's medical association has said a push to relax quarantine rules for close contacts must consider rising case numbers of the new, highly infectious variant.
Emergence of Omicron strain's BA.2 sub-variant — now responsible for about half of the state's cases — has coincided with a lifting of indoor mask rules and a return to the office for many.
A week ago, national cabinet agreed to relax the isolation rules for close contacts of COVID-19 cases as soon as possible.
Leaders asked the national expert health panel, the AHPPC, to provide urgent advice about how each jurisdiction could best manage ditching their quarantine periods.
Yesterday, Australia's Chief Health Officer indicated that process would be finalised in the coming weeks.
But the president of the Australian Medical Association's Victorian branch, Roderick McRae, said any decision should consider the fact the health system was already struggling.
"It's inappropriate to rush into relaxing the rules and I understand that expert committees are going to analyse the information," Dr McRae said.
"But we have to be brutally honest, we are coming into autumn and then the winter months, which is traditionally terrible for respiratory illnesses."
It is hoped increased booster coverage will prevent hospitalisations rising at the same rate of new cases.
More than 63 per cent of Victorian adults have now received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, a rate that is rising slowly.
About 94 per cent of those Victorians aged 12 years and older have received at least two doses.
