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Health officials are facing an anxious wait on the latest COVID-19 case numbers to determine whether the current wave of infections has peaked as the weather heats up.
Case numbers continue to rise across the country, with both NSW and Victoria reporting the biggest increases last week.
More than 32,000 infections were reported in NSW, marking a 15.2 per cent increase on the previous week while Victoria saw a 9.5 per cent jump with more than 22,000 people diagnosed with the virus.
A mixture of new Omicron sub variants has been blamed for the spike in infections, as they are said to be more immune evasive and are responding to waning immunity from past infection and past vaccination.
These sub variants include the XBF recombinant strain (a combination of BA.2.75 and BA.5) and existing sub variants BQ.1/BQ.1.1, BA 2.75, along with the XBB recombinant.
On Thursday, a cruise ship carrying COVID-infected passengers docked at Port Melbourne's Station Pier.
More than 2000 passengers disembarked from The Grand Princess cruise ship, where ambulances were on hand to transport several sick passengers to hospital.
It is unclear exactly how many passengers were infected with the virus at the time of the ship's arrival but operator Princess Cruises said it was a small percentage.
About 95 per cent of passengers were required to show proof of vaccination and those who tested positive were forced to isolate for at least five days.
Premier Daniel Andrews said emergency services were at the port early on Thursday to provide support to passengers.
The Department of Health said there was no correlation between COVID infections on cruise ships and a recent rise in case numbers.
