Victoria has recorded the worst daily death toll from COVID-19 in Australia since the pandemic began.
Twenty-five people died in the past 24 hours - just one week after the state celebrated 'freedom day' when lockdown restrictions were lifted.
"It's going to be a really difficult time for the family and friends of those 25 Victorians," says Victoria's acting Chief Health Officer Ben Cowie.
But, like Sydney, Melbourne's hospitalisations continue to fall and cases are stabilising.
"For the first time in three weeks, our Thursday figure is under 2000 which is good to see," Cowie says.
On Monday, international borders will reopen and more restrictions are eased since New South Wales and Victoria have fully vaccinated more than 80 percent of their residents.
It comes as tennis star Novak Djokovic wants to enter Victoria in 2022 to defend his grand slam win.
"The Government re-established borders that you will need to be double vaccinated to visit Australia. It's universal, not just for tennis players," says Australian Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.
But Djokovic refuses to say whether he's fully vaccinated.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews ruled the world number one couldn't attend if he wasn't fully vaccinated.
"I'm not going to ask and require people to sit in the grandstand and work at the event to be vaccinated when players aren't," he says.
But Prime Minister Scott Morrison then overruled Andrews, saying Djokovic can enter but via a quarantine hotel.
"The same rules apply to everyone, to grand slam winners, prime ministers, or whoever," he says.
A new world with zero tolerance for the unvaccinated - and if Andrews gets his way, it won't matter who you are.
