Coronavirus in Victoria: 374 new COVID-19 cases recorded in Victoria with three more deaths

The total is 99 more than yesterday's figure, which itself was significantly less than the previous day.

It is the second worst daily figure so far.

Health authorities had hoped Monday's figure - which stood at 275 - reflected a slowing of the surge in cases registered last week.

Today's figure ramps up pressure on the Victorian health authorities. Earlier this week, the chief health officer Brett Sutton said he hoped there should be signs of an easing in the number of cases.

On Friday Premier Andrews announced a record number of 428 new cases. It was the second consecutive daily record following Thursday's total of 317.

Mr Andrews said there had three further deaths, a woman in her 100s, a woman in her 90s, and a woman in her 80s.

There has now been over two weeks with more than triple-digit increases in new cases every day.

In the daily media conference this morning, Premier Andrews announced that 62 of those new cases were linked to known outbreaks and 312 were under investigation.

It takes Victoria to 6289 cases in total, with 3,078 now active - almost half of the total.

There are now 174 people in hospitals across Victoria, with 36 in intensive care .

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Premier Andrews once again encouraged people to get tested - even if they have only mild symptoms - and thanked "each and every Victoria" who had got tested so far.

The past fortnight has seen by far the steepest and fastest rise in the number of COVID-19 cases since the pandemic measures first came into place.

The Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said at the end of last week that he hoped for numbers to plateau shortly.

On Tuesday he said: "We're seeing a rollercoaster of numbers. We are seeing some levelling off... but I am not satisfied with that."

The breakdown of cases by local government area will be sent out later today. Currently the Ballarat municipality has nine active cases. At this point last week, none were registered.

Ballarat registered its first positive COVID case since mid-May on Thursday last week, and registered more cases on both following days - four on Friday, three on Saturday and one on Monday.

There is particular concern about the potential for spread in care homes, after it was revealed that both a staff member and a resident had been registered positive at the Bill Crawford Lodge in Dana Street.

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