A child who attended a childcare centre in Melbourne’s southeast has tested positive to COVID-19 since travelling overseas.

The state’s health department on Monday confirmed the Australian child tested positive to the virus after arriving in Israel on January 9.

The child attended the Explorers Early Learning Centre in Armadale, about eight kilometres southeast of Melbourne, on January 7.

“We are working with colleagues in Israel to confirm the test result,” a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman said in a statement to AAP.

“In the meantime, DHHS are taking all necessary precautions and investigating potential exposure sites – including where the child may have been exposed themselves.”

The centre has been contacted and cleaning and contact tracing is underway.

Monday marks the fifth consecutive day the state has recorded no new local or interstate cases of COVID-19, though a returned traveller in hotel quarantine has tested positive.

It brings the total number of active cases in the state to 40.

About 18,660 people were tested in the previous 24 hours.

-AAP