Victoria has recorded 532 new coronavirus cases and six new deaths from the disease in the last 24 hours.
The figure marks the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the Australian state in a single day since the pandemic started several months ago.
State Premier Daniel Andrews officially reported the new case numbers at a press conference on Monday morning (local time).
The previous record was 484 cases, recorded last Wednesday. The total number of active cases in the state is 4542, as four more schools announce their closure in Melbourne.
Meanwhile 245 people are in hospital and 44 in intensive care due to coronavirus.
In a press conference on Monday, Andrews begged Victorians to be responsible.
"The key message today for every single Victorian regardless of where they work and regardless of where they live: you simply can't go to work if you have symptoms," he told reporters.
"You can't go to work if you feel sick even mildly. You've got to come forward and get tested."
The six new deaths come just a day after Victoria's deadliest day, when 10 people succumbed to COVID-19. Of the new deaths, five of them are connected to outbreaks in the aged care sector.
All six of the deceased ranged in aged from 50 to 79. There are currently 683 active cases connected to aged care.
Over the weekend, Victorian officials laid out a series of new directives to protect retirement home residents as they struggle to contain a second wave of the disease.
"We've always known that aged care is a very challenging setting. If you get community transmission and then you have chains of transmission that are driven by staff, then you will see outbreaks," Andrews said in a press conference on Sunday.
"That's exactly the challenge we are facing at the moment."
Melbourne and the adjacent Mitchell Shire are nearly halfway through a strict six-week lockdown, but case numbers continue to skyrocket.
