Man arrested after escaping Tullamarine quarantine hotel

Victoria recorded no new local cases of COVID-19 and no deaths from the virus on Sunday morning, but one additional case was found in an international traveller within hotel quarantine.

There were 5854 test results received across Saturday. Ten cases remain active in Victoria: nine travellers who were infected with the virus overseas and remain in hotel quarantine, and one 15-year-old girl who travelled from NSW and remains in home isolation.

The 58th day of no local Victorian cases comes after 30 staff at the Royal Melbourne Hospital were forced to isolate on Saturday after a patient returned an initial positive test to COVID-19.

The Department of Health and Human Services said an expert review panel was called in to review one case where a low positive result was returned from a coronavirus test.

A spokeswoman said the second test returned a negative reading.

The Victorian president of the Australian Medical Association praised the hospital’s decision to quickly send staff into isolation after the initial positive test.

"False positives occur," AMA president Julian Rait said.

"It sounds as though all appropriate infection prevention protocols were followed on this occasion."

NSW recorded nine new locally acquired cases on Saturday, including six people in one household. Almost 40,000 people were tested.

From midnight on Boxing Day until 11.59pm on December 30, residents of the northern part of Sydney's northern beaches are restricted to outdoor gatherings of up to five people for exercise and recreation.

Residents of the southern part of the northern beaches can have outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people for exercise and recreation.

"Our strategy is to nip this in the bud as soon as we can, to make sure we do the hard yards now so we can have normality as soon as we can," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said.

With Rob Sharp, Melissa Cunningham