Victoria will start accepting international arrivals again from December 7, and has asked the Commonwealth for an initial cap of 160 passengers per day.

International flights into Melbourne have been suspended since early July, to allow a reset of the state’s hotel quarantine program.

“Victoria has asked the Commonwealth for a short extension of the suspension of international flights landing in Melbourne from November 22 to December 6 to allow the final preparations for Victoria’s reset quarantine accommodation program for returned travellers to take place,” a government spokesperson said on Friday.

“Victoria will commence receiving new passengers from 7 December and has requested an initial cap of 160 incoming passengers each day. This cap may be revised up in time.”

The international flights announcement came as Victoria recorded its 21st consecutive day of no new coronavirus cases or deaths.

There are now two active cases in Victoria, down from three on Thursday.

Health authorities conducted 18,474 tests in 24 hours.

DHHS said one possible case was under investigation, and might be a false positive.

The potential case is being assessed, and precautionary public health actions are in place as investigations continue.

There are still restrictions on the SA-Victorian border, but now they’re on the Victorian side.

Temporary closure of Victoria-South Australia border in place

Victoria has closed its border with South Australia for 48 hours in an effort to stop an outbreak of coronavirus in Adelaide from spreading into the state.

From Friday, entry to Victoria from South Australia is limited to truck drivers transporting freight, people with medical, emergency or animal welfare issues and people authorised by law.

A permit system will be introduced on Saturday to allow people to enter Victoria for specific reasons, such as shopping or medical care.

Health officials say the decision was made to close the border because of evidence of community transmission in South Australia, and the detection of viral fragments in wastewater in Portland and Benalla.

The chief executive of Portland District Health, Chris Giles, said the detection of viral fragments did not mean there was an active case in the region.

“It’s less likely we’ve got active cases than someone has visited who’s shedding the virus, but that said, it’s really important that Portlanders do exactly what they’ve done when we had active cases in the community – turn out and get tested,” he said.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will reveal on Sunday which restrictions will be eased as the state moves to the next stage on the roadmap towards reopening.

Mr Andrews said earlier this week that there could be changes to the state’s mandatory mask rules.

He suggested that people might not be required to wear a mask if they were alone outdoors.