“We are really getting to that point of what’s called the law of diminishing returns, so everything that we do probably doesn’t have a major effect,” Thompson told radio station 3AW.

“I tend to agree we’re getting to a point ... where the whole population can’t stop for a very small number of people.”

The Age revealed on Saturday the state government was preparing to remove mask mandates for hospitality workers, students, and public transport users once Victoria passes its peak of Omicron cases. That would leave just a small number of rules in place.

Andrews later confirmed measures such as QR check-in codes, isolation rules for household contacts, and vaccination requirements were among those that would be scrapped once infection numbers drop. Masks on public transport and high-risk settings, such as hospitals and aged care homes, will stay.

“There’ll always be rules, like masks in and public transport and masks in aged care, hospitals, those sorts of things,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“But when you compare and contrast them with some of the places we’ve had to go to, some of the things we’ve had to do as a state, that is almost no rules.”

Andrews said there were signs the state was close to passing the peak of recent infections. But he would not commit to a date when the rules would be changed.

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“I can’t give you the exact date, but it’s not that far away,” he said. “I think we’re certainly talking about weeks rather than months, and hopefully, it’s only a matter of a few weeks.”

Bennett said the pandemic response needed to move away from rules and mandates to focus on sending a clear message to the public about the importance of boosters and masks, so people could assess their own risk and protect themselves accordingly.

“People need the information to act, but they are tired of the rules. We just have to be realistic about how long those things can be sustained,” she said.

Victoria reported more than 10,400 cases of COVID-19 and 14 deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of active infections to just under 59,000.

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