Victoria has recorded its deadliest COVID-19 day for the state yet with 19 more lives claimed.
The previous high death total was 17, recorded just one day ago. Cases continue to track down with 322 new infections recorded in the past 24 hours.
New deaths recorded include a man in his 50s, a woman in her 60s, two men in their 70s, one man and six women in their 80s, and one man and seven women in their 90s, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews says.
"Fourteen of those 19 deaths are linked to aged-care outbreaks."
About one-third of Victoria's latest cases are from unknown sources. Andrews said it's still very early to measure the impacts of its stringent COVID-19 lockdown, with many of those measures only coming into place at midnight.
"We are, perhaps, seeing some greater stability - it just hasn't achieved as much as we need it to. It's brought some stability in the numbers but we've got to drive them down so that we can re-open.
"It is really important that we all stay the course on this - it is a wicked enemy, it'll do everything it can to wear you down and that's where it absolutely flourishes - that's why I'm so grateful to those who are seeing this through."
Victoria's largest city, Melbourne, entered a state of disaster and a strict lockdown last Sunday as the state's COVID-19 crisis showed little signs of letting up. It was expected to be in place for at least six weeks.
The state reported 394 new cases on Sunday and has recorded nearly 15,000 infections.
