Medical experts are preparing advice for the prime minister and premiers on how to deal with a worrying UK strain of the coronavirus, ahead of a national cabinet meeting on Friday.
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Thursday's meeting of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee - the key body for health emergencies - comes as Scott Morrison brought forward talks with the premiers that were not due to be held until early February.
Leaders will consider a proposal to strengthen the safety of end to end travel processes, from airport arrival to clearance of hotel quarantine.
"This is being done particularly in the context of the UK strain," Mr Morrison posted on his Facebook page.
The bringing forward of vaccination rollouts will also be on the agenda.
The government had set a target of late March for the first vaccinations but now believes, based on new advice, earlier in the month is achievable.
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews said he would be proposing all states step up testing rates - including daily testing for those involved in the hotel quarantine process and changes to the way flight crews are handled - to deal with the "super-infectious" UK strain.
His state has averaged 30,000 tests over the past five days.
"So many parts of the world are on fire when it comes to this virus," he told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday.
"And now, with these new strains which are much more infectious than that which we've been dealing with ... if that gets in here and gets away from us there will be no pulling that up."
A strategy was needed to deal with "multiple risk points", he said.
Victoria reported no local, interstate or overseas acquired cases to report on Thursday - its first clean sheet since December 29.
But the state is still trying to identify the source of the state's first mystery COVID-19 case in more than two months, which has now been genomically linked to Sydney's northern beaches outbreak.
The active cases include a man in his 30s who authorities fear may have caught the virus after going to Chadstone Shopping Centre on Boxing Day and the second day of the Test at the MCG a day later.
NSW recorded no locally acquired cases, but six travellers have returned positive tests. Another case related to the northern beaches was detected after the cut-off and will be included in tomorrow's figures.
Health authorities are confident of checks put in place for the start of the Australia-India cricket Test on Thursday.
"We are not gonna pretend that there is no risk but if people follow the rules, wear masks and make sure they socially distance, we believe that we can put on a Test today that will have minimal risk," acting premier John Barilaro said.
He also encouraged more testing, which he said could lead to the further lifting of restrictions.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian's office confirmed she would take part in the national cabinet meeting.
Allowing the Test to go ahead is part of a strategy to keep the economy ticking over, following a dip into recession.
The tourism industry is also hoping to get a kickstart from a $6 million move to allow cars to be transported for free on the ferry to Tasmania.
However, Labor leader Anthony Albanese says the government is applying a handbrake to the recovery by providing poor mobile and broadband coverage in parts of the country.
"When the government came to office, it replaced the former Labor government's plan for an NBN delivering fibre to the premises with a second-rate copper wire-based system that was out of date before it was even constructed," he said.
Australian Associated Press
