And Premier Daniel Andrews expects that number to climb even higher in the coming days.

It is the biggest increase in new coronavirus cases in Victoria in more than two months.

Ballarat has not had a new case for more than a month, although Thursday's figures have not yet been released.

Premier Daniel Andrews has revealed a suburb-by-suburb breakdown of Melbourne's coronavirus hotspots.

HOTSPOTS IDENTIFIED

"This is no less serious than a bushfire," he said.

"And just like we send firefighters and air bombers to other states when they need it... this is like a public health bushfire."

Victoria has recorded 128 new cases of COVID-19 in the past week, with 20 cases and a death logged on Wednesday.

Victoria's active cases have jumped from 58 to 143 in the past eight days, while the rest of the country combined has had only 20.

At least 33 staff working at quarantine hotels have been infected with COVID-19 and health officials are investigating links between the workers and other outbreaks.

Currently, 30 people in hotel quarantine have the virus.

It comes as community engagement in the local government areas of Brimbank, Casey, Cardinia, Darebin, Hume and Moreland has ramped up after they were identified as coronavirus hotspots.

The areas have large migrant populations, with many speaking languages other than English at home.

Mr Andrews said a massive testing blitz would be launched in those suburbs.

"We do anticipate we will find more positive cases," Mr Andrews said.

"We plan on doing more than 100,000 tests."

Information about the virus has been translated into 55 languages but state Health Minister Jenny Mikakos conceded the government has to "work harder to reach these people".

A Victorian man in his 80s became Australia's first coronavirus-related death in more than a month, bringing the state's death toll to 20 and the national toll to 103.

Of the state's 20 new cases on Wednesday, nine were identified through routine testing, seven were linked to known outbreaks and one was a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.

Three other cases remain under investigation.

Three people have been linked to a Keilor Downs family cluster, two are staff members at Hampstead Dental in Maidstone, one case has been linked to Northland H&M and another has been linked to St Monica's college at Epping.

Since the spike in new cases, drive-through testing sites have experienced extremely high demand while panic buying has also returned, with Coles and Woolworths reinstating purchase limits.

The Courier has removed the paywall from our stories relating to health warnings and safety of the community in regards to the coronavirus. However, we depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.