Victoria has reported 41 further COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday, as the daily number of cases fell to four figures for the first time in a month.
Authorities in the state recorded 7,810 new cases in the most recent reporting period, down from 11,240 on Friday.
The number of people in hospital dropped from 707 to 687 over the past 24 hours, but intensive care admissions increased by one to 80.
Queensland's health department said 21 deaths had been recorded, the highest daily tally throughout the pandemic.
There are 727 people in hospital - a decline from the 798 on Friday - while the number of people in ICU dropped by six to 46.
New South Wales reported 18 deaths and 8,389 new COVID-19 cases, down from 10,698 on Friday.
There are currently 2,337 patients in hospitals across the state, down from 2,494 on Friday, and 152 in ICU.
The last time NSW recorded a daily case rate of less than 10,000 was 28 December.
Surgery to resume
The new numbers come as the NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced elective surgery will return ahead of schedule in NSW after hospitalisations fell in the past few days.
Hospitals are operating "well within capacity", opening the door for those surgeries to resume in private hospitals and non-metropolitan public hospitals next week, Mr Perrottet said on Friday.
The decision to cancel elective surgery was made in the second week of January, as the number of daily COVID-19 cases reached more than 38,000.
A review into how hospitals were functioning had previously been slated for mid-February, but advice from NSW Health now says private, regional and rural public hospitals can return to up to 75 per cent of pre-pandemic activity on Monday.
Waiting times for elective surgery can stretch as long as seven weeks, with hospitals backlogged with bookings from previous cancellations over 2020.
What's happening elsewhere?
The ACT recorded one death, the 28th of the pandemic in the territory, and 372 new cases.
It is the lowest daily case number since 31 December, and 63 people are in hospital and one in ICU.
Additional reporting by AAP.
