About 16,823 cases were reported last week, with an average of 2403 per day, marking a nearly 10 per cent decline from the previous week.

The number of people hospitalised with COVID also decreased by an average of 13 per cent compared to the previous week.

Data from aged-care facilities also showed positive signs, with outbreaks dropping across every state and jurisdiction.

The latest figures come as research continues to shine a light on potential new COVID treatments.

A broad spectrum antiviral significantly reduces COVID patients' chances of being hospitalised or visiting an emergency department if it is administered early, a study suggests.

The study, helmed by an international team of drug researchers behind the "Together Trial", found a 51 per cent decrease in hospitalisation or emergency visits in patients who received a dose of the drug pegylated interferon lambda.

That was compared with a placebo group of more than 1010 people, with more than 930 patients randomly selected to receive the drug.

The trial was conducted between June 2021 and February last year and early treatment with the drug was found to be effective across dominant variants of COVID-19, according to the study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

The findings were particularly exciting after the World Health Organisation declared the pandemic far from over, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences adjunct professor and senior trial investigator Craig Rayner said.

University of Sydney scientists have meanwhile discovered a protein that blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection and forms a natural protective barrier in the human body.

The naturally occurring protein, LRRC15, works by attaching itself to the virus, preventing it binding with more vulnerable cells and reducing the chance of infection.

The research opens up an entirely new area of immunology research around the receptor and offers a promising pathway to develop new drugs, the team behind the study said.

The Australian College of Nursing on Friday called for the government to support nurses to deliver COVID-19 vaccines in residential aged care and disability facilities.

The new incentive payment announced by the government to support general practices and community pharmacies to administer COVID-19 vaccines to local facilities did not extend sufficiently to nurses, chief executive Kylie Ward said.

WEEKLY VIRUS FIGURES:

* Victoria: 2941 cases, 52 deaths

* NSW: 6440 cases, 62 deaths

* Queensland: 3866 cases, 33 deaths

* SA: 1495 cases, 94 deaths

*ACT: 401 cases, 0 deaths

*NT: 160 cases, 0 deaths

*WA: 2093 cases, 7 deaths

*TAS: 359 cases, 0 deaths

Australian Associated Press