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Victoria has recorded 177 new cases of COVID-19 overnight as fears grow an emerging cluster at a pub in Sydney is linked to a Melbourne truck driver.  

Of the new cases 25 are linked to known outbreaks, Premier Daniel Andrews said on Monday morning. 

There are now 1,612 active cases of the virus in Victoria and 72 people in hospital suffering from COVID-19 - 17 of whom are in intensive care.

Mr Andrews pleaded with Victorians to get tested after revealing more than 22,000 tests had been conducted in the state over the past 24 hours. 

He added the state's testing rate per 100,000 people was the second highest in the world. 

The Crossroads Hotel in Casula in Sydney's south-west - a popular rest stop with truckies - meanwhile has been linked with 13 cases in total, including a worker, four patrons and three close contacts. 

New South Wales Health has also been notified by its counterparts in Victoria of five different venues visited by two infected Victorians.

Victoria has recorded 177 new cases of COVID-19 overnight. Pictured are people wearing masks in Melbourne on Sunday

Those venues are located both in southern Sydney in Caringbah and Kurnell and close to the Victorian/ NSW border in Murrary Downs and Merimbula.

Mr Andrews called on Victorians to relieve pressure on hospital workers by using common sense and getting tested even if they have 'the mildest of symptoms'. 

'We shouldn't see them as the front-line in our war against the virus - they're the last line of defence,' he said.  

'One of the ways we can thank them is by acknowledging it's us on the front line - we are there, and if we follow the rules, then we can play our part.'

Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the drop of nearly 100 cases from the weekend's peak was promising, but warned the state could not be complacent.

'It’s great it’s lower than our peak. But it may not be our peak yet,' he said.

'So I would like to see a week of decreasing numbers before I come and say I have greater confidence about the direction we’re going in.' 

The 177 new cases announced on Monday comes after three consecutive days of infections totals of over 200 

On Monday morning 2GB radio host Ben Fordham said he has heard 'patient zero' for the pub outbreak was a truckie from Melbourne and asked Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant if that was the case.

One of the infected patrons at the Crossroads Hotel also played pokies at Picton Hotel, south of Sydney, on 4, 9 and 10 July. The hotel has been closed for a deep clean and staff are in quarantine. 

'We have some linkages with Melbourne but our investigation is ongoing,' Dr Chant replied. 

Health authorities also fear the second wave of COVID-19 plaguing Victoria could have reached Sydney after a gym was forced to close following a positive case.

Thirteen cases have now been linked to The Crossroads Hotel in Sydney's south-west - five patrons who attended the venue in Casula on July 3, and four of their close contacts. 

Sunday's four new cases included an 18-year-old pub employee who had worked on July 3.

He continued to work for 'several days' after he was exposed to the virus. 

A close contact in her 50s, plus a woman in her 40s and a Victorian man in his 20s, who both dined at the venue, were on Sunday confirmed as new cases.

Just a kilometre away from the pub, Planet Fitness Casula was forced to close on Sunday for a deep clean after a member tested positive for COVID-19. 

Empty streets around Flinders Station in central Melbourne on Sunday. Premier Daniel Andrews has pleaded with Victorians to get tested as he revealed the state's testing rate per 100,000 people was the second highest in the world

Officials check people at testing centers as lockdown is reimposed in Melbourne on Friday

Mr Andrews said even Victorians suffering from 'the mildest of symptoms' should be getting tested

An aerial view of traffic streaming into the Crossroads Hotel in Casula in Sydney's south-west as drivers lined up to get tested

It is unclear at this stage whether the case is related to the pub outbreak.

'The member has not been at the club since Friday, 10 July and is in quarantine,' Planet Fitness said in a statement on Sunday. 

'Additionally, our team members are in self-quarantine as instructed by their doctor, as a precaution because of contact with the patient. Currently, the team members are reporting no symptoms.'

Nine cases have now been linked to The Crossroads Hotel in Sydney's south west - five patrons who attended the venue in Casula on July 3, and four of their close contacts

Just a kilometre away from the pub, Planet Fitness Casula was forced to close on Sunday for a deep clean after a member tested positive for COVID-19

Meanwhile, defence force staff at the RAAF base in Wagga Wagga were placed in lockdown after some visited the pub in Casula.

The 13 personnel were part of a larger group on their way to help patrol the NSW-Victoria border. They are now in isolation at the base. 

No cases have been confirmed at the base. 

A cleaner dressed in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) leaves the Crossroads Hotel in Sydney's south west 

Authorities have not made clear at this stage whether the case is related to the pub outbreak. Pictured: a sign on the door of Planet Fitness Casula 

Defence force staff at the RAAF base in Wagga Wagga were placed in lockdown after some visited the pub in Casula

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Sunday night NSW Health was 'getting very close' to identifying the source of the Crossroads Hotel pub cluster. 

'There is an extraordinary job of tracing going on,' Mr Hunt told Sky News.

'My understanding is that NSW Health is getting very close to identifying the original source. I am hopeful and confident that within 24 hours they will be in a position to identify that source.' 

Mr Hunt revealed Prime Minister Scott Morrison had spent the weekend drafting a plan to support Victoria and stop the state's outbreak spiralling out of control. 

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt defended the prime minister after he attended an NRL game on Saturday

Mr Morrison 'worked right through [Saturday] on a new level of support for Victoria, over and above every thing that we've done', Mr Hunt said, defending the prime minister after he attended an NRL game on Saturday. 

'I know because I was working with him. I've been working with him throughout today, so this fellow never stops.

'He is one of the reasons, perhaps the fundamental reasons, that we are where we are. I have never seen any body work harder in my life and more effectively in protecting a country.'

Mr Hunt did not provide any details on the prime minister's plan.   

Some 1200 people have been tested at the pop-up clinic in the pub car park since Friday

Meanwhile, Mr Hunt refused to speculate on whether Sydney's pub cluster is linked to Victoria's worsening coronavirus crisus, where another 273 cases were recorded and a man in his 70s died on Sunday. 

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said health authorities do not believe the staff member was the source. 

Five cases have been previously linked to the pub - two patrons who visited on July 3 and three close contacts of one of those patrons.

None of those cases is linked to Victoria's outbreak.

Some 1,200 people have been tested at the pop-up clinic in the pub car park since Friday.

Dr Chant said all Crossroads patrons and staff should get tested as a precaution and self-isolate for 14 days since their last visit.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state was on high alert for community transmission

'Even if you get a negative test, that does not mean you are out of the woods. A negative result does not mean you can breach self-isolation,' she said. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the state was on high alert for community transmission.

'I get extremely concerned and upset when we see people flouting the rules that are in place because that will take us down the path of Victoria,' she said.

'If you wake up with a scratchy throat, don't go to work. Get tested and stay home.'

Ms Berejiklian also said the virus could be 'bubbling under the surface' in Sydney's south west following the Crossroads Hotel cluster. 

'We are just hanging on. If you've been at the Crossroads hotel from July 3 to July 10, stay home for 14 days and self-isolate otherwise we will go down the path of Victoria.'  

Premier Daniel Andrews has issued a plea to all Victorians to follow the latest lockdown rules, as the state recorded 273 new cases and another death

Dr Chant said the pub outbreak highlighted the importance of businesses recording contact details for every sit-down customer and the public taking the measures seriously. 

'When you do go into cafes, restaurants and other facilities, there is a reason we ask you for those details,' she said.

'Please use correct numbers (and) write legibly because this will be in your best interest.'

Australian National University Associate Professor of Medicine Sanjaya Senanayake told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday it is 'definitely' possible NSW will suffer a coronavirus outbreak like Victoria's.

'But it's not a certainty,' he said. 

'The public health authorities will rely on people at the pub to get tested and then find the other people they were in contact with.

'The next generation of cases is going to be difficult.' 

Professor Senanayake said those people would likely only be found if they developed symptoms and got tested.

'The only way to know is if they themselves become sick,' he said. 

Professor Senanayake said people in south-west Sydney should now start wearing face masks in public places whether or not they are sick.

'It may not be unreasonable in that part of Sydney to wear masks,' he said.

'The data does support having a mask on even if you're not sick.'

He also stressed people should download the Federal Government's COVID-19 tracing app, as this would cut down the time it takes to trace contacts.

'There's not a widely available drug to treat and we don't have a vaccine so we rely on detecting cases and quarantining them,' he said.

Meanwhile in Victoria, Premier Daniel Andrews has issued a plea to all Victorians to follow the latest lockdown rules, as the state recorded 273 new cases and another death.

He said health authorities could not contain the virus on their own, with those in locked-down metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire urged to limit their movement.

'We need every Victorian to acknowledge that you are on the frontline. Don't leave it to nurses and doctors to be the last line of defence,' Mr Andrews told reporters on Sunday.

Alf Jordan, 90, died in hospital on Friday night after falling ill at a Werribee aged care facility just three days earlier

'We all need to make smart choices for ourselves and each other. That is the only way we will stabilise these numbers and drive them down.'

The premier also warned police were not mucking about, as 'no-one has the luxury of being able to do the wrong thing' thinking that it will only affect them.

Just in the last 24 hours, police have issued 119 fines to people breaking lockdown rules.

Mr Andrews confirmed a man in his 70s died from the virus overnight on Saturday, taking the national toll to 108.

New cases extend Victoria public housing tower lockdown 

Residents of one of Melbourne's public housing towers recently released from 'hard' lockdown have been forced back into their apartments after a spate of new coronavirus infections.

There are 237 COVID-19 cases linked to the Flemington and North Melbourne estates.

A woman living at 120 Racecourse Road, Flemington told AAP a family who tested positive for the virus prior to the five-day lockdown have since been seen outside their flat, mixing with others, going to McDonald's and travelling to neighbouring Footscray.

She said a teenager in the family attends Al-Taqwa College, a large school in Truganina linked to a huge outbreak.

The woman says she saw health authorities speaking with the family on Friday night, reminding them to isolate at home.

The Department of Health and Human Services also called her on Friday to let her know she had been in close contact with a different resident who tested positive to the virus. She was told to quarantine for two weeks.

The woman shares a small flat with her family and cannot isolate in her room, so she was told to wear a mask at all times, including when sleeping.

'Just thinking about it, I'm about to go crazy,' she said.

A young father in the same building received a positive test result on Friday, having waited to find out since his test on Monday.

Just in the last 24 hours, police have issued 119 fines to people breaking lockdown rules in Melbourne. Pictured: People get in their government-mandated exercise at the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne on Sunday 

By the time he received the result at midday, he had already left his apartment, spoke to police and fellow residents and bought a coffee.

He has shut himself in a bedroom, interacting with his wife and children via Facetime.

The DDHS asked him to isolate in a hotel but he preferred to be at home.

The department declined to comment on specific cases for privacy reasons but said there were strict procedures in place to protect the public when a person tests positive.

'All close contacts are identified and notified that they need to self-isolate and seek testing,' a spokesman said.

The Flemington building was one of nine public housing towers to be put into a strict lockdown from July 4 to 9.

Eight of the towers reverted to stage three restrictions on Thursday, while residents of Alfred Street North Melbourne remain in self-quarantine.

Meanwhile, another 28 cases were recorded at a public housing tower in Carlton.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the pandemic had not yet reached its peak and authorities were throwing 'absolutely everything at it'.

The state recorded 273 new cases on Sunday and another death.

There are now 1484 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, with 57 people currently in hospital with the virus and 16 of those in intensive care.

*The two residents who spoke to AAP did not wish to be named.

 

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It comes after great-grandfather Alf Jordan, 90, died in hospital on Friday night after falling ill at a Werribee aged care facility just three days earlier.

There are now 1484 active cases of COVID-19 in Victoria, with 57 people currently in hospital with the virus and 16 of those in intensive care.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said the pandemic had not yet reached its peak and authorities were throwing 'absolutely everything at it'.

'It is the public health challenge of our lifetime. The biggest for 100 years since the Spanish flu,' he said.

Professor Sutton said he was particularly concerned about outbreaks in hospitals and aged care facilities in recent days, which have forced hundreds of workers deemed close contacts into quarantine.

There are 11 coronavirus cases linked to Brunswick Private Hospital, eight to the Alfred Hospital and two to Box Hill Hospital.

Eleven people have also tested positive at Menarock Life Aged Care Facility in Essendon, while 12 cases were recorded at Glendale Aged Care Facility in Werribee.

'The workforces know what to do but it is a risk that can't be mitigated down to zero,' Professor Sutton said.

There are 237 cases linked to public housing blocks in Flemington and North Melbourne

'I have been an emergency department doctor for years and they are brave and they are brilliant in responding to the challenges of positive cases that need to be managed there.'

There are 237 cases linked to public housing blocks in Flemington and North Melbourne, but Professor Sutton warned the number could be much greater.

Twenty-eight people at a public housing tower in Carlton have also tested positive to the virus.

The state has recorded a week of triple-digit increases in new cases, including a record 288 infections on Friday.

Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire are again under stage three restriction until at least August 19 because of the spike in new cases.

People in those areas are only allowed to leave home for food and supplies, receive or provide care, exercise, and study or work if they can't do so from home.

Students in prep to year 10 in the locked-down areas will return to online learning from July 20 as part of efforts to minimise the movement of people.

'These next six weeks are not an ordinary winter. We all have to play our part, we cannot ignore the circumstances we face,' Mr Andrews said.

'Nobody wanted to be in this position, but this is where we find ourselves.'