Nearly all of Victoria's latest COVID-19 deaths were unvaccinated, as the state recorded its second-highest daily toll of the year.
Nineteen deaths were recorded on Tuesday, the highest daily total since 25 deaths on October 28.
The latest deaths were people aged 52 to 105. AAP understands all but two deaths occurred between November 18 and 21.
Victoria's new cases dipped back below 1000 for the first time in four days after posting a further 827 infections.
There are now 303 patients in hospital and intensive care patients continue to reduce in number.
Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said ICU numbers falling below 100 was encouraging while confirming 17 of the 19 people who died with COVID-19 were not vaccinated.
"Entirely preventable," he tweeted on Tuesday.
Premier Daniel Andrews said it was a "terrible outcome" and clearly demonstrated vaccine effectiveness.
The state's push to hit 90 per cent full vaccination is stalling, with the proportion of Victorians aged 12 and over remaining at 89.3 per cent for a second straight day.
The Victorian government eased a raft of restrictions on Friday expecting to reach the target at the weekend.
It comes as long-term modelling shows the working-from-home revolution is likely to change Victorians' way of life into the next decade.
Based on a third of people working from home two to three days a week by 2036, the Infrastructure Victoria report found Melbourne's population will become more spread out throughout the city and regional cities including Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.
That is contingent on workers factoring in a lower commute time-cost and seeking a tree or sea change.
Infrastructure Victoria acting chief executive Jonathan Spear said people are more willing to tolerate longer commutes if venturing into the office fewer days each week.
"But access to major job precincts remains a factor in people's housing choices, which means these dispersion effects occur in the immediate vicinity of Melbourne and big regional cities, but do not extend to other regional areas further away," he said.
The report also indicates working from home may not reduce Melbourne's CBD to a ghost town, with the modelling projecting flexible arrangements tend to accelerate jobs growth in inner Melbourne.
The state opposition on Tuesday announced if it won government it would build a dedicated infectious disease response centre as part of a $400 million package, with an advisory panel to guide its location.
In May, the Andrews government announced it would build a new Australian Institute of Infectious Disease at the Parkville biomedical precinct in conjunction with the University of Melbourne and other partners.
VICTORIA'S COVID-19 DAILY NUMBERS:
* Toll from the pandemic: 1298
* Active cases: 9420
* Actively infectious ICU patients: 44
* Cleared ICU patients: 53
* Patients on a ventilator: 23
* Tests processed: 48,427
* Vaccine doses at state hubs: 5464
Australian Associated Press
