'Super spreader' could 'potentially' be behind Victoria's coronavirus spike

The mass coronavirus outbreaks grappling Melbourne's north and north-west may "potentially" have sparked from a single source "super spreader" infecting the community, Victoria's Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has revealed.

A genomic sequencing report showed the "super spreader" could be behind the spike in the state's infections, including 66 new virus cases overnight, which have broken out predominantly across the city's 10 hotspot postcodes currently in stage three lockdown. It is one theory being investigated.

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"There seems to be a single source of infection for many of the cases that have gone across the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne," Ms Mikakos said.

A super spreader is generally known as a patient who infects a significant amount of people with a disease more than usual.

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But Deputy Chief Health Officer Annaliese van Diemen said there was no "definitive evidence" the outbreak was caused from a super spreader.

"We don't have a single super spreader per se, but it is one of the epidemiological theories that is being looked at by our team of very experienced epidemiologists," she said.

"The current outbreak is possibly looking more like a point source outbreak.

"There is not an identified super spreader at this point in time. It is one of the possibilities."