On Wednesday a Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman provided clarification to the Mail-Times of two cases of coronavirus in the Wimmera - one in Yarriambiack and one in the Northern Grampians.

She said the cases had not yet appeared in the infectious disease surveillance report because it took time for data from daily reports to be uploaded.

"We are asking people to be patient," she said. "Normally it takes months to analyse this kind of data and the team are doing it in five hours at the moment. The most up to date information is coming out daily."

There is no further information about the exact location of the cases as the department only provides detail on which Local Government Areas have confirmed cases.

Rural Northwest Health acting chief executive Jo Martin said even if there wasn't a confirmed case in Yarriambiack Shire, people should still take proper precautions to prevent the spread of the virus.

"Our key message is unless you need to go out, stay home," she said.

Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said she was concerned about the potential deadly impact of the virus in the community due to the large proportion of older residents in her electorate.

"We have (more than) 4500 residents who are over 80 years of age," she said.

Read more: Keeping older people connected during coronavirus self-isolation

Ms Kealy said her office planned to contact all residents in that demographic to ensure they were informed of the appropriate precautions to take to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19.

On Thursday the state government announced Victoria had recorded its first three deaths related to coronavirus. All were men in their 70s.

The deaths came as the state's total number of cases increased to 520, with more than 50 cases in regional Victoria.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton stressed the importance of complying with restrictions.

"Social distancing will save lives," he said. "I can't be clearer; if you can stay at home, you must stay at home."

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