Victoria's Covid-19 hospitalisations have risen to 1206, up from 1173 reported on Wednesday, and a further 15 deaths were recorded in the state.
Of the patients in hospital, there are 122 in intensive care, 40 of whom are receiving ventilation.
The state has officially recorded 21,966 new Covid-19 infections, but the true number of new cases in the community could be much higher.
About half of the state's cases have been diagnosed using RATs, with yesterday's tally reported from 11,693 PCR results and 10,273 rapid testing kits.
Considering these figures, Premier Daniel Andrews said it was clear Covid-19 was prevalent in Victoria.
"This is in our community. This is right across the state, right across every state in our nation other than WA," Andrews said.
A further 166 million rapid antigen tests (RATs) have been ordered by the government.
Andrews said transportation issues as a result of the volcanic eruption in Tonga have hampered delivery of RATs recently, contributing to a shortage of kits around the state.
"We had a couple of flights this week that did not land - they did not take off and did not obviously arrive - on the basis of the ash cloud," Andrews said.
"So there are many and varied challenges as we continue to build to the stockpile."
Meanwhile, Australia's national cabinet will meet around noon to try to finalise a plan for students to return to school, as the Omicron wave continues to spread.