Victoria has recorded more than 400 new cases of coronavirus overnight. Photo / Getty Images
Victoria has recorded more than 400 new cases of coronavirus overnight. Photo / Getty Images
Victoria has announced 428 new cases of COVID-19 today, marking a record peak for the state.
Premier Daniel Andrews faced the media at 11am and announced 428 Covid-19 cases. This takes the state's total to 5165.
There have also been three further deaths in Victoria, taking the state's death toll to 32.
Andrews said the people who died were a man in his 80s, a man in his 70s, and a woman in her 80s.
"I can offer no further information about those three tragedies, but we send our best wishes and our thoughts and prayers to their families. This will be a particularly challenging and very, very sad time for them."
Victoria has recorded more than 400 new cases of coronavirus overnight. Photo / Getty Images
It was the largest increase in any Australian state or territory since the pandemic began.
Of yesterday's cases, 28 were linked to known outbreaks and 289 are under investigation.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos labelled the Victoria figures as a "very concerning number".
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian earlier announced new restrictions as the state works to stop community transmission.
Australia has recorded a total of 10,620 cases of Covid-19, with 3338 in New South Wales, 1071 in Queensland, 444 in South Australia, 646 in Western Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 113 in the Australian Capital Territory and 30 in the Northern Territory.
Andrews said there are five new cases in regional Victoria, which he deemed "relatively low numbers in the scheme of things".
"These things can change rapidly though and that is why additional test sites and expanded test sites are critically important," he added.
Victorians can be fined over A$1600 if they are found exercising outside of their local area.
Premier Andrews suggested the rules around exercise were made more explicit because people were trying to get around them.
"If you must ask yourself and give a lot of thought to whether what you are planning to do is within the rules are against the rules, chances are it is against the rules."
Victoria's Health Minister Jenny Mikakos urged people to limit their movements to only what's absolutely essential. "I want to impress on all Victorians need to be vigilant, to limit movements. You do not need to be exercising outside your local area. You do not need to go to the shops every day. Limit your movements, follow the rules and we will get through this."
Meanwhile, a secret report by virus detectives into the source of the Covid-19 outbreak that has forced Melbourne into lockdown is being kept under wraps by the Victorian Government.
The renowned Doherty Institute, the medical research facility that convinced Prime Minister Scott Morrison to shut down the economy earlier this year to avoid a European-style outbreak, has revealed it cannot release new genomic sequencing because of a public inquiry into the bungled hotel quarantine mess.
But the decision has sparked fury in Victoria, because the taxpayer-funded research explaining how the outbreak escaped hotel quarantine and forced its way into multiple public housing blocks in Victoria is critical to understanding why millions of Melburnians are now under lockdown.
