Victoria is expanding its coronavirus testing criteria to include police officers as well as workers in residential care, child protection, homelessness and disability support.

Key points: The Government will use $1.3 billion to increase the state's intensive care unit beds from 500 to 4,500

The Government will use $1.3 billion to increase the state's intensive care unit beds from 500 to 4,500 Ten people and businesses have been fined by Victoria Police for breaching health directives

Ten people and businesses have been fined by Victoria Police for breaching health directives Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the rules were not intended to impact on couples who lived apart, but urged them to be mindful of the risks

Up until now, testing has been focused on returned overseas travellers and healthcare workers, due to the limited supply of testing kits.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said individuals in the expanded testing groups would still need to meet the clinical criteria for coronavirus in ordered to be tested.

"The Chief Health Officer will be writing to all GPs and health services, alerting them to the fact that we will be broadening our testing criteria from tomorrow [Thursday]," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

"Up until now, Victoria included healthcare workers as a priority group.

"We're now going to expand that [to also] include police officers, paid or unpaid workers in health care, residential care, disability care settings, homelessness support, child protection workers and police officers."

The expanded testing comes as the state prepares to boost its number of intensive care beds by nearly tenfold as it prepares for the pandemic's peak.

The $1.3 billion funding boost, announced by Premier Daniel Andrews this morning, will be used to expand the number of intensive care beds from 500 to 4,500.

Ms Mikakos said it was the biggest expansion of intensive care capacity in Victoria's history.

But Mr Andrews warned there would never be enough money if people did not adhere to social-distancing measures and "this gets away from us".

Shutdown measures are designed to slow the spread of COVID-19 and prevent an overloading of the hospital system. ( ABC Melbourne: Kristian Silva )

Healthcare workers 'about 10 per cent' of coronavirus cases

The move came as Victoria's confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 968 after another 51 people were diagnosed with the virus overnight.

Mr Andrews said 32 people were in Victorian hospitals with COVID-19, including six in intensive care.

The national death toll from the virus has reached 21 after two more people died yesterday in NSW.

The number of suspected community transmissions has increased to 39 and about 47,000 tests have been carried out in the state.

Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said more than 80 healthcare workers had been infected, including doctors, nurses and other support workers in hospitals.

"So the number is significant, it's about 10 per cent of our cases overall," Professor Sutton told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

"Our healthcare staff across the board are really at the frontlines with this, and we have to do everything we can to protect them."

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'This is worst-case scenario planning'

Ms Mikakos said the billion-dollar package would fund training for nurses, anaesthetists and other healthcare workers to be able to work in an intensive care setting.

Sorry, this audio has expired Victorian Government announces expansion of COVID-19 testing criteria

She said intensive care beds required additional staff and equipment like ventilators, IV infusion pumps, patient monitors and dialysis machines that would be purchased with the extra money.

It will also pay for personal protective equipment, including 551 million gloves and "hundreds of millions" of masks and gowns.

"This is worst-case scenario planning. We certainly hope that we will never need to actually use this type of capacity in Victoria, and it's incumbent on all of us to do our bit and to make sure that this capacity won't actually be needed," she said.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the announcement represented the biggest expansion in intensive care capacity in Victoria's history. ( ABC Melbourne: Kristian Silva, file photo )

"It fills me with dread to think that we may have thousands of Victorians on ventilators in intensive care beds."

Ms Mikakos said it was hoped the new beds could be open when the virus was expected to peak in June.

Other healthcare staff, such as anaesthetists and nurses, would be given in-house training to equip them with the skills needed to help staff the new beds.

"Of course, I can't clone staff. We are calling on retired healthcare workers to come back into the workforce," she said.

"We have put out a call in Victoria. We are working with universities to bring in medical students and nursing students and others."

Mr Andrews also said he would not rule out turning the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre or the Exhibition Building into "what would be one of the biggest intensive care units in our country".

"If you look at London, they've converted a significant convention centre into a 4,000-bed intensive care unit, we're seeing the same things in New York, we're seeing the same things in lots of parts of the world," he said.

Ms Mikakos said if people stayed at home and followed physical-distancing rules, the state would hopefully not have to use all the extra capacity.

The announcement follows yesterday's deal between the Federal Government and private hospitals to respond to the coronavirus crisis.

Ms Mikakos said the deal "merged" the private and public systems and would free up another 9,000 beds.

Mr Andrews reiterated that people who did not have coronavirus symptoms should not be wearing face masks.

"The advice has been very consistent from the Chief Health Officer of Victoria, wearing a mask is wasting a mask, that's a mask that won't be available when it's actually needed."

Breast Screen Victoria today announced it would temporarily close 42 screening clinics across the state to help contain the virus and free up resources and equipment for frontline workers.

Chief executive Vicki Pridmore said the "considered medical view" was that a short-term delay in screening and diagnosis would not have "a material impact on the outcome for women".

More people fined for breaching health directives

Victoria Police has now fined 10 individuals and businesses for failing to adhere to restrictions on activities that could contribute to the spread of the virus.

Police from the Sex Industry Coordination Unit yesterday fined a massage premises in Frankston $9,913, and two customers $1,652 each, after they observed "non-essential services being undertaken".

Another six fines were issued to individuals in Melbourne for "breaching the directive to stay at home without a valid reason".

China Bar in Fitzroy was the first business to be hit with an on-the-spot fine of nearly $10,000 for breaching physical-distancing restrictions.

China Bar in Fitzroy was fined almost $10,000 last weekend for breaching Government restrictions. ( ABC News )

"The fines are steep. They are a very significant cost if you get caught, and you will get caught if you're doing the wrong thing," Mr Andrews said.

"But ultimately no gathering, no party, no choice that you make is worth someone else's life."

Under the state of emergency called on March 17, people and businesses can also face criminal proceedings for not complying with the coronavirus restrictions.

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police received more than 100 calls yesterday of people reporting suspected business breaches.

Victoria Police officers are on duty outside the Melbourne Convention Exhibition Centre. ( ABC News: Jessica Longbottom )

Couples who live apart will be able to see each other

Professor Sutton clarified this afternoon that couples who lived apart would still be able to see each other.

"Regarding 'Stay at Home' rules: We have no desire to penalise individuals who are staying with or meeting their partners if they don't usually reside together. We'll be making an exemption. Hope that helps," he tweeted.

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The Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said it was not intended to impact on people's relationships, but Victorians needed to be clear about the risks.

"I can think of the scenario where two young adults, a boyfriend or girlfriend, live at home with mum and dad, maybe even elderly grandparents. And going from one household to another might actually create a risk," she said.

"We just have to be alive to these risks. We can put whatever rules we want in place as a Government. It's important that people understand why we put these rules in place."

The clarification came after Emergency Services Minister Lisa Neville last night said in a Twitter thread that people should not visit the home of their partners "for social reasons".

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Premier Daniel Andrews, meanwhile, has called for people to stop visiting friends and family for social reasons.

"There's lots of different issues, in different relationships, in different households, and if you, for instance, were visiting somebody and they've got older parents, if the person you're visiting lives at home with their older parents then no, you probably shouldn't do that," Mr Andrews said.

"Again, I know I'm asking a lot of Victorians, I'm deeply grateful for those who are doing the right thing, ultimately visiting friends or doing the things you might like to do is that worth a life? Almost certainly, the answer to that is no."

Under the rules, two people are allowed to exercise together.

There are currently 951 returned international travellers quarantined in Melbourne hotels, including 141 who arrived in the past 24 hours.

At least one quarantined traveller tested positive to coronavirus, Professor Sutton said, adding that he expected more cases over time.

Victoria creates its own 'stockpile of personal protective equipment'

In March, the Government announced it would be converting the former Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Baxter House in Geelong to be used for the public coronavirus response.

Ms Mikakos said construction would start on the old Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in "coming days", with an aim to have work completed across a range of facilities within 12 weeks.

She said 1 million masks arrived last week and another 1 million were expected this week.

"We are effectively creating our own stockpile here in Victoria of personal protective equipment," she said.

"Of course I have acknowledged in the past that there are international supply chain issues.

"We are working very closely with the Commonwealth, we're utilising our diplomatic channels, we are utilising every opportunity including potentially using the Australian Defence Force to fly some of that equipment to us."

She said the Government was also looking at local manufacturing opportunities.

What can I do under the two-person rule? Take the kids to see their grandparents — No

Take the kids to see their grandparents — Have a tradie come to your house — Yes

Have a tradie come to your house — Two friends with babies go for a walk — No

Two friends with babies go for a walk — Drive with more than two people for work — No Source: Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton, ABC Radio Melbourne

Dock workers stood down after refusing to board ship

Meanwhile, about 60 maritime staff have been stood down for refusing to board a ship.

The Maritime Union of Australia said the workers did not feel safe boarding the Xin Da Lian ship, which docked at DP World terminal in Melbourne last night, because it only left a port in Taiwan 12 days ago.

The workers were stood down without pay for an unknown number of days, the union added.

Maritime Union of Australia national secretary Warren Smith said workers did not want the virus to spread because of "inadequate measures" put in place for ship arrivals.

The container ship Xin Da Lian is sitting at Melbourne's Swanson dock. ( ABC News: Simon Tucci )

"Wharfies don't want to see a repeat of [a] blunder on the waterfront, but we still see ships allowed to dock inside of quarantine periods in breach of Australian Government Department of Health guidelines," Mr Smith said.

But DP World Australia chief operating officer Andrew Adam said the vessel had been at sea for the necessary 14 days after leaving Shanghai in China on March 17. He also said it had been cleared for entry by the Australian Border Force.

"Maritime union members have refused to unload a vessel in the Port of Melbourne, carrying critical imports such as medical supplies, citing unfounded safety concerns," he said.

"The union is not allowed to unilaterally declare a vessel unsafe: they are not allowed to create their own set of rules."

Fears women suffering violence are not getting to the phone

At Victoria's Aboriginal family violence prevention and legal service Djirra, chief executive Antoinette Braybrook said staff were presented with "a different issue every minute" as the ripple effects of shutdown measures passed through the community.

Police have reported a rise in family violence in the wake of the shutdown measures, and other women's support services have told the ABC they have dealt with cases of men using the shutdown measures as weapons against their partners.

But Ms Braybrook said they were not seeing a rise in the volume of calls to the service — and that was a "real problem".

She suspects it is not because women are not in need of support, but because they cannot get to a phone.

"They might be isolated with the perpetrator," she said.

Djirra has closed the doors of its Koori Womens' Place in Abbotsford during the pandemic, while its staff continue to offer support over the phone.

"Usually when they have contact with women they can see that they've got bruises and then they'll have more of a conversation about what safety measures they're putting in place," Ms Braybrook said.

"But because it's all by phone, they can't see the bruises."

Antoinette Braybrook said she was concerned that the issue of domestic violence would "explode" in coming months. ( Supplied )

The option of video calls is made complicated as many of the women seeking help do not have enough data to support the call, prompting the service to consider handing out phones with data to those that need them.

"We're just trying to think outside of the square and think on our feet," Ms Braybrook said.

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The shutdown measures are also posing difficulties for mothers battling to maintain a connection with their children in care.

"We had a woman tell us the other day that she couldn't get her urine test, she had to drive to three different centres, so that she could do the test to be able to see her child," Ms Braybrook said.

"We have some real concerns about mums not being able to get their kids back or keep their kids."

The organisation is calling on the Victorian Government to introduce urgent law changes so that children who reach a two-year milestone of being in care are not automatically moved to permanent care during the pandemic.

Ms Braybrook is also calling on the Federal Government to ensure that some of the $1.1 billion for telehealth, mental health and domestic violence services announced on the weekend goes to Aboriginal family violence prevention and legal services groups around Australia.

"What we know is that this is a time right now where women don't know where or how to reach out for help, and this is just going to explode in the months to come," she said.

Calls for rate freeze from local councils

The Victorian Opposition is urging local councils to freeze council rates and offer rate relief during the coronavirus outbreak.

Shadow Local Government Minister Tim Smith said many households were struggling with financial pressure due to job losses and business closures related to the pandemic.

"Councils have a really important role to play during this pandemic, this crisis," Mr Smith said.

"And I think one of the most important things the State Government can be doing at the moment is assisting those councils, helping those councils to give rate relief to their ratepayers who are just doing it so tough right now."