
Update 5.22pm:
Seven public housing towers in inner Melbourne, which had been in full lockdown since Saturday, will move to stage three from 11.59pm.
One will remain in full lockdown for another nine days, and another has been in stage three since 5pm.
At Thursday's COVID-19 update for Victoria, Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville said the government encouraged residents of the towers that had tested positive to move to hotels if they wanted.
A total of 111 people in the towers in north Melbourne and Flemington have tested positive for coronavirus, 18 in the past 24 hours. Further test results are expected back later today.
Premier Daniel Andrews said police would be less lenient, issuing fines rather than warnings for people breaching social distancing restrictions, compared to the first lockdown period which applied statewide across March and April.
He said 40 people were in hospital with coronavirus, nine of them in intensive care.
MORE NEWS
2pm: Victoria has recorded 165 new cases of coronavirus since yesterday, with the total number of cases now at 3098.
The overall total has increased by 156, after 9 cases were reclassified - largely due to duplication.
Within Victoria, 30 of the new cases are linked to outbreaks and 135 are under investigation. No cases have been detected in returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
There have been no deaths reported since yesterday. To date, 22 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.
- 477 cases may indicate community transmission
- 932 cases are currently active in Victoria
- 40 cases of coronavirus are in hospital, including 9 in intensive care
- 2,142 people have recovered from the virus
- Of the total cases, 2,723 cases are from metropolitan Melbourne, while 270 are from regional Victoria
- Total cases include 1,629 men and 1,447 women
- More than 1,030,000 tests have been processed to date
Of yesterday's new cases that have already been linked to outbreaks, the breakdown includes:
- 18 cases relating to the North Melbourne and Flemington public housing towers, with the total now 111. Testing concluded at the estates on Wednesday night, and further lab results are expected later today and are not included in this number.
- Six new cases linked to the Al-Taqwa College outbreak, with the total now 113.
- One new case at the Catch.com Distribution Centre in Truganina taking the total number of cases for four. Further contact tracing is under way.
- One case linked to the Collins Street Hugo Boss outbreak - a household contact - taking the total to eight.
Other cases include:
- Two healthcare workers have tested positive at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Contact tracing is under way and close contacts will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
- Two healthcare workers at Sunshine Hospital emergency department have tested positive. Contact tracing is under way and close contacts will be required to quarantine for 14 days.
- One further case in a staff member has been linked to the Northern Hospital in Epping, with the total now 11, made up of nine staff and two household contacts.
- Positive cases have been linked to aged care facilities, these facilities are in lockdown and cleaning, contact tracing and appropriate testing is underway.
- Cases in two staff members who worked at Menarock Life Aged Care in Essendon.
- A staff member who attended BaptCare The Orchards Community in Doncaster while infectious.
- A staff member who worked at Benetas St George's in Altona Meadows while infectious.
- A staff member who worked at BlueCross Ivanhoe while infectious.
- A staff member who worked at Aurrum Aged Care facility in Healesville. The staff member was not infectious at the time.
- A staff member who worked at Holmwood Aged Care facility in Healesville. The staff member was not infectious at the time.
Stage 3 "Stay at Home" restrictions came into force across metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire overnight and will stay in force for six weeks.
"These restrictions have become necessary because of the sharp increase in cases," said Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.
"If you live in these areas, there'll be only four reasons to leave your home: shopping for food and essential items; care and caregiving; daily exercise; and work and study, if you can't do it from home.
"This Stay at Home direction will apply to your principal place of residence - which means you need to stay home and not use a holiday home.
"Restaurants and cafes will return to takeaway and delivery services only, and beauty and personal services will need to close. Entertainment and cultural venues will need to close. Community sport will also stop.
"These are tough measures but this virus is not selective - it will impact anyone it encounters, and personal contact is the clear source of its transmission. We need everyone to do their part and ensure it is stopped in its track