Victorians need to be prepared to make individual sacrifices to slow the spread of coronavirus, the state's Chief Health Officer says, as the state moves to "stage three" restrictions.

Key points: Victorians face on-the-spot fines for flouting physical-distancing rules

Victorians face on-the-spot fines for flouting physical-distancing rules The Premier said he could not rule out further restrictions

The Premier said he could not rule out further restrictions Mr Andrews said Victoria's needs were "very, very different" to other parts of the country

Premier Daniel Andrews said from midnight on Monday, Victorians faced on-the-spot fines of more than $1,600 if they breached coronavirus restrictions that limit gatherings to just two people.

From midnight, Victorians could also face fines if they leave the house for "non-essential reasons". That is, unless they leaving to get food and supplies, medical care, exercise or for work or education.

Loading

"The sacrifice we make as individuals is to protect everyone across the board," Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told ABC Radio Melbourne on Monday afternoon.

It came as a worker in a Melbourne aged care home tested positive for COVID-19.

The employee worked at the Assisi Aged Care centre at Rosanna, in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs.

In an email to families, the centre said a staffer had tested positive five days after working with elderly residents.

The staffer had not shown symptoms for two days after her last shift, they added.

Paula Wales is unable to visit her father Domenic because of restrictions on visitors during the coronavirus pandemic. ( Supplied: Paula Wales )

The centre said they had discussed the matter with the department of health and had been told "they do not consider this case to be a risk for our residents".

"This is because she became unwell two days after her last shift," the centre said in the email.

No residents have tested positive, but Paula Wales is worried about her 95-year-old father Domenic.

She said she was "incredulous" the letter to families said the case was low risk.

"I'm just confused as to how they can be so sure this doesn't pose a risk to the residents — and they're all really elderly and very vulnerable," she said.

Ms Wales said she called the home later and felt she still had not been given a clear answer.

"They said they were testing all residents and staff twice a day and nobody so far had a fever," she said.

"They didn't answer my questions about how this is not a risk."

Ms Wales said Assisi had been in lockdown for about two weeks due to the virus, meaning she was not able to see her father face to face.

"It's a bit hard. Obviously we can't go there. I'll feel better FaceTiming him and hopefully he'll be fine," she said.

In a statement, Assisi Aged Care's chief executive Paul Cohen said the centre had been advised by health authorities that further testing was not required.

Under the centre's coronavirus measures, resident temperatures are being taken twice a day, parts of the facility have been isolated and family members are barred from visiting except in exceptional circumstances.

Stage 3 restrictions imposed

The move came as the state recorded 56 more confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 821.

It followed Sunday night's announcement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that gatherings would be limited to two people under "radical" measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The two-person limit in Victoria does not apply to people who live in the same house, and excludes workplaces and schools.

Mr Andrews said the unprecedented restrictions represented a move to "stage 3" shutdown measures.

He said he could not rule out a fourth stage of the state's response.

"As long as we see additional cases each day we have to consider next steps," he said.

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

Public playgrounds across the state have been closed by local councils. ( ABC News: Joseph Dunstan )

"I've heard people say the [rules] are very, very complex, this is what I'd say: there are many complex things in the world, this is not one of them. Stay at home," Mr Andrews said.

The measures are an attempt to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with critically ill patients.

"No gathering with friends is worth someone's life," Mr Andrews said.

"This is not just about grandma, this is about all of us. And unless you want to be burying an elderly relative or your best mate or your parents … then do the right thing."

Four people in Victoria have died after contracting the virus and 29 people are in hospital, including four in intensive care.

Suspected community transmission cases rise to 26

Authorities believe 26 of the state's cases have been acquired through community transmission, which is a key measure of the pandemic's spread.

Community transmissions are when people contract the virus, but health authorities are unable to trace the spread of the disease back to someone who has arrived in Australia from overseas.

On Friday, the tally of suspected community transmissions was 16.

Affluent suburbs in Melbourne's inner-east and the Mornington Peninsula remain at the top of a geographical breakdown of cases, based on residential addresses.

Importantly, the locations only indicate the residential addresses of infected Victorians, not where the infection was acquired.

The bulk of infections have been diagnosed in returned overseas travellers.

Professor Sutton said he was hopeful the new measures had helped slow the spread of the virus.

"If we can get it to at least a linear increase — so not increasing every day with new records — that would be a start. And if we can drive it down to smaller and smaller numbers, that would be fantastic," he said.

Skate parks, outdoor gyms and playgrounds are closed under this stage of the shutdown.

Shopping centres, schools, universities and businesses deemed essential are still allowed to stay open under the stage 3 measures, as long as they comply with physical distancing rules.

The on-the-spot fines of up to $1,652 for individuals and $9,913 for businesses already apply to Victorians who are caught breaching other physical-distancing measures, such as the limits on people attending weddings or funerals.

Only two people are allowed to gather outdoors for bootcamps or personal training, down from groups of 10 that were allowed previously. ( ABC News: Ron Ekkel )

Under the state of emergency declared earlier this month, people can also be arrested or detained for failing to comply with the orders.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said no-one in Victoria had been fined for breaching the restrictions as of Monday morning, but a number of people had been given warnings.

On Monday, police had carried out 5,785 spot checks.

While state, territory and federal officials agreed on the two-person limit at Sunday's National Cabinet meeting, each jurisdiction will decide whether it will be a guideline or an enforceable restriction.

Victoria COVID-19 snapshot Melbourne's 14-day average: 34.4

Melbourne's 14-day average: 34.4 Regional Victoria's 14-day average: 1.6

Regional Victoria's 14-day average: 1.6 Current active cases: 657

Current active cases: 657 Active cases in regional Victoria: 23

Active cases in regional Victoria: 23 Active cases in healthcare workers: 79

Active cases in healthcare workers: 79 Active cases linked to aged care: 332

Active cases linked to aged care: 332 Deaths: 763

Deaths: 763 Cases in hospital: 92

Cases in hospital: 92 Intensive care patients: 6

Intensive care patients: 6 Tests since pandemic began: More than 2.58 million

Tests since pandemic began: More than 2.58 million Confirmed cases so far: 20,051 Updated Monday September 21 Latest Victorian Government info

"This is an appropriate acknowledgement on medical advice, that the curve is different in each state, therefore the response needs to be different in each state," Mr Andrews said.

"We're getting close to 1,000 cases … so what we have to do is very, very different to other parts of Australia and other parts of the world."

Mr Andrews confirmed Victoria would implement a moratorium on evictions for commercial or residential tenants if they were unable to pay rent due to the pandemic.

He said he wanted tenants and landlords to work together to come to "common sense" arrangements.

"No one should be evicting anyone. We are very very firm on that," he said.

Chief Health Officer 'frustrated' with behaviour

Beaches around Victoria have been closed. People can still walk, run and swim for exercise but are being told not to linger. ( ABC News: Ron Ekkel )

Many of the state's beaches were closed over the weekend after warm weather across much of the state saw groups of people flock to some coastal areas.

Simon Illingworth, a councillor for Corangamite Shire, which takes in Great Ocean Road destinations like Port Campbell, told the ABC locals were "furious" about sightseers continuing to travel to the area.

Professor Sutton slammed some Victorians' behaviour as "pretty crap" on Saturday and said without behavioural change, thousands could die.

"What I want to call out is the behaviour that will lead to the transmission of this virus and hundreds of people gathering together, hundreds of people driving down to one location is exactly the kind of setting where transmission will occur," he told a press conference this morning.

"I was frustrated. I think some people haven't had the awareness but some people have had the awareness and still can't see that this is the time to act, this is our window of opportunity.

"We will come to a point eventually where everyone is calling for this … that is too late to act. Now, when levels are relatively low is a point where we can totally flatten that curve. We could cap cases in Australia at 10 to 15,000. The alternative is hundreds of thousands."

Mr Andrews said there was nothing to legally stop people going to holiday homes, but he said the message was to "stay at home" wherever possible.

The criteria for testing in Australia has been expanded. ( Reuters: Lindsey Wasson )

On Sunday, the president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Medical Association, Julian Rait, said testing for coronavirus needed to increase to be in line with New South Wales.

NSW has carried out 93,099 tests, compared to 42,000 in Victoria.

Professor Sutton said NSW had tested more people because the state had higher rates of infection and said Victoria's rate of testing was "up there with all the best testing rates in Australia and indeed across the world".

"We're at 3,000 to 4,000 tests per day, at a per capita basis that's as high as anywhere," he said.

"Our private labs were a little bit slower to go online, so the Government-supported lab was doing the bulk of testing. But now there's a lot of testing going on across the board."

Testing criteria has been expanded beyond people who had recently returned from overseas, but the testing kits remain in short supply globally.

Regional Victorian screening centres have begun testing every fifth person they see.

From midnight on Monday, Victorians could be fined $1,600 for gathering in groups with people other than those they live with. ( ABC News: Ron Ekkel )

'We can't have' private hospitals close down, Premier says

Private hospitals had said they might have to close after non-urgent elective surgeries were postponed, significantly affecting their revenue stream.

Mr Andrews said the Government had worked with private hospitals over the weekend to make sure they remained open and available to help with the COVID-19 response.

"We need one health system, whether it be public or private and I'm very grateful to the biggest privates who [we] have been working with over the weekend," he said.

"We need to stand behind them so they have all the support that they need in terms of money to be there when they're not admitting all the normal patients they would admit. We can't have them close, we can't have them stand down."

Mr Andrews said the Government would purchase beds from private hospitals to use for public patients.

The chief executive of Cabrini Health, Sue Williams, said her hospital had 26 intensive care beds available, and could expand to 60 if needed.

"We've got a lot of capacity … [so] when there is a surge in COVID-19 cases, we can provide regular inpatient beds, but we can also provide much needed intensive care capacity," she said.

All non-urgent dental procedures have been placed on hold for at least three months to help contain the virus and free up resources for health workers.

"We're putting the safety of patients and health care workers first by ensuring health care professionals have the equipment they need when they need it," Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said in a statement.

Emergency sitting of Parliament flagged

Parliament is not currently scheduled to sit in April. ( ABC News: Danielle Bonica )

Mr Andrews said Parliament would be recalled for an emergency meeting before July.

"There will need to be an emergency sitting, there's been discussion with the Opposition and the crossbench," he said.

"I would hope that's a very short sitting to pass a bill to see the normal monies that are invested across the state, like paying our staff, will continue with a small increase."

Mr Andrews said the sitting was likely to only run for a few hours.

"It will be done in good time, we've obviously got until the end of the financial year," he said.

AFL, Racing Victoria scramble to bolster finances

Meanwhile, the AFL said it had secured loans from ANZ and NAB to help address the league's dire financial situation.

The league has already undertaken cost-cutting measures, including standing down 80 per cent of its staff and drastically reducing players' salaries.

In a statement, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the financial support was much needed, but warned it was not a "return to business as usual".

"The football community is — like businesses across every sector — still very much in the financial fight of its life with the losses this year stretching to many hundreds of millions of dollars," he said.

Racing Victoria has also stood down or cut hours to more than 40 per cent of its permanent staff.

"These are not decisions that we have taken lightly, however the impacts of the past fortnight and the nation's rapidly evolving economic crisis means that we must act now to help soften the blow for Victorian racing," chairman Brian Kruger said.

From April 6 until further notice, prize money will be cut for all flats and jumps races in Victoria.

Read the Premier's statement:

Loading...