Australia's Victoria on Thursday reported three more community coronavirus cases, a day after it reported its first infections outside hotel quarantine in two months.
It's prompted authorities to slap last-minute New Year's Eve restrictions on the state, with people only allowed 15 people in their homes as opposed to 30.
"If you are planning a party tonight, you will need to reduce your numbers," Victoria acting Premier Jacinta Allan told a news briefing.
A total of six cases have been found in the community in the past day and local health officials are investigating whether they are linked to the current outbreak in neighbouring New South Wales (NSW). Allan said three cases have been linked to a restaurant attended by someone who'd recently returned from NSW.
Authorities earlier restricted movement and tightened curbs on gatherings in NSW's Sydney, hoping to avoid a coronavirus "super spreader" event during the city's New Year's Eve celebrations.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday announced 10 new community COVID-19 cases in the state, confirming gatherings of just five people were permitted for New Year's Eve and until further notice.
Australia had largely contained community transmission of the coronavirus. Before Sydney's Northern Beaches outbreak that emerged two weeks ago, the country last reported a local case on December 3 when a hotel quarantine worker in Sydney tested positive for the virus.
In Victoria, an outbreak in August led to a lockdown lasting more than 100 days, leaving some 5 million people in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city, largely confined to their homes.
Until Wednesday, the state hadn't recorded any community COVID-19 cases for two months, a far cry from August when Victoria recorded more than 700 cases in one day and active infections totalled nearly 8000.
Reuters / Newshub.
