The permit system, which designates regions in other parts of Australia as green, orange or red depending on coronavirus risk, will go live from 6pm on Monday.

Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed under the new system, regional NSW is classified as orange.

Sydney and Brisbane will remain red for now, although Mr Andrews said this may change "late in the week".

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the permit system will be a simple one issued "within minutes".

Mr Andrews said it was about slowing the spread of coronavirus into Victoria.

"If I get public health advice to lock other parts of the country, people from that part of the country travelling to Victoria, I will not hesitate to do that, I will do it in a moment," Mr Andrews said.

"The stakes are very high here, we have built something that is precious, and it needs to be safeguarded, and I make no apology for doing everything I can to keep Victoria safe.

"When you are making a judgement about whether you are going to travel to other parts of the country, you have to at least give some thought to the notion that there could be an outbreak and your plans may well be impacted by that, that has got to be part of your thinking because it is not normal, we are in a global pandemic.

"There is no vaccine yet, and until there is a vaccine and appropriate take-up of the vaccine and it is rolled out, our lives are going to be different, they are going to be COVID in normal, not normal."

Anyone wanting to come to Victoria from regional NSW will need to apply for a permit via the Services Victoria website, while current permits, including transit and workers permits, will remain valid.

A new $4957 fine will apply to anyone arriving in the state without a permit.

It comes after a child who attended a childcare centre in Melbourne's southeast 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.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton suspects the case is a false positive.

"Children are extremely low risk of having serious illness; they can become infected but the transmissibility childcare settings is pretty low and my suspicion is this is not a true case," he said.

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.

Visit https://www.service.vic.gov.au/ to apply for a permit.

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