Victorians stranded in high-risk areas of New South Wales will be allowed to return home under an expansion of the home quarantine trial, from today.
But those planning to cross the border into Victoria must be fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 and have returned a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before they leave NSW.
Victorian residents will then have to quarantine in their homes for 14 days.
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It comes as cases surge across Victoria, with one paramedic describing the emergency department conditions as "already apocalyptic".
Yesterday, Victoria recorded its highest ever daily COVID-19 tally with 950 local cases and a further seven deaths.
Thousands of Victorians are expected to begin returning home from today after being stuck in NSW for months.
Previously, only Victorians who had been stuck on the New South Wales side of the border bubble had been allowed back into the state.
Speaking about the expansion of the home quarantine trial last week, Premier Daniel Andrews described Sydney as "an extreme risk zone".
He said Victorians wanting to come back must adhere to the rules, with technology to keep track of people's movements.
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"That home quarantine is serious, it is not a matter of when you feel like it, it will be a proper 14 days and there will be various mechanisms to check on people," he said.
Meanwhile, doctors are calling for an after-hours COVID-19 health hotline to help deal with an expected rise in hospitalisations and calls to Triple Zero.
Health officials have been given welfare briefings urging front-line workers to "prepare psychologically" for a difficult few months as Victorians emerge from lockdown, reports The Age.
The hotline would help to field calls from patients and suspected cases, to give people an option other than calling triple-zero.
A paramedic told the publication the health care workers had been told to brace for a surge in patients when lockdowns ease.
"They basically told us to prepare psychologically because most of Victoria's going to think 'this is great', meanwhile as a healthcare worker, it'll feel like a war zone," he said.
"I just can't fathom it. Some of the hospitals in Melbourne are already apocalyptic."
Yesterday it emerged Victoria's healthcare system was working at its slowest rate ever as it deals with "extraordinary demand" caused by COVID-19.
Ambulance Victoria Executive Director Clinical Operations and Associate Professor Mick Stephenson said the health system was used to a heavy workload, but it was being slowed down significantly by the virus.
"We've got extraordinary demand in the system at the moment," he said.
"This is the slowest the health system has ever worked because of COVID-19."
The associate professor said paramedics were dealing with 250 to 300 patients a day who were suspected of having COVID-19, with about 150 turning out to be positive.
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