Victoria records 216 new COVID-19 cases, man in his 90's dies

Victoria has recorded 216 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Premier Daniel Andrews also confirmed a man in his 90's has died, bringing the national death toll to 107.

There are 49 people in hospital in the state, 15 of those in intensive care. There are now 1249 active cases in the state.

Victorian health workers have carried out more than one million coronavirus tests and there are now 150 testing facilities across the state.

Mr Andrews said "this is not an ordinary weekend" as the state grapples with a second wave of the virus.

"It is anything but that. You've got to be in your home if you are in the metropolitan Melbourne or Mitchell Shire areas, and only for those four reasons," he said.

There is little chance of the drug Remdesivir - just granted provisional approval to be used to treat Covid-19 - reaching Australian patients in coming weeks, said Victoria Chief Medical Officer Brett Sutton

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) granted provisional approval for use of the drug to treat adults and adolescent patients with severe coronavirus symptoms who have been hospitalised.

Prof. Sutton said last month the US bought up virtually all the stocks for the next three months of the drug.

"The US really went very hard in gobbling up the entire global supply almost," he said.

Meanwhile, Victorian authorities have ordered two million reusable face masks to bolster the state's medical arsenal.

Mr Andrews they "will arrive soon" and be issued to frontline health workers who are unable to maintain the 1.5 metre social distancing requirement.

"You wash them, can wear them the following day, the day after that. This is a much better way of going than the use of single-use surgical grade masks," Mr Andrews said.

Those reasons are for healthcare and other essential services such as groceries, exercise, work and study, or childcare.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos insisted the government is well prepared for the new wave of COVID-19.

"As a government we have never hesitated to put in the resources that are needed to support our efforts in this pandemic. Our hospitals are well prepared," she said.

Ms Mikakos said essential medical equipment including ventilators and 32 million face masks have been stockpiled in warehouses.

Prof. Sutton said the state had more outbreaks of COVID-19 in aged care facilities than any other state or territory and it has become harder to identify which new cases are related to known outbreaks, and which are new clusters.

But he said Victoria has managed to contain the aged care outbreaks and stop their spread and potential deaths of residents.

"Victoria had more outbreaks there than any jurisdiction, but we haven't had an aged care facility that has had a substantial outbreak."