Victoria records 63 new cases and five deaths, as state awaits Premier Daniel Andrew's roadmap to recovery
Victoria has recorded 63 new COVID-19 cases and another five deaths over the past 24 hours.
The daily figures come as Premier Daniel Andrews prepares to outline the state's pathway to re-opening, where he is expected to announce the state will remain in stage four lockdown until October.
It takes the total number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in the state to 666.
The cases come after 90, 113, 81 and 76 cases in the past four days.
The Andrews government will announce its plan to ease restrictions later on Sunday. It is expected to announce an extension of stage four after it released modelling on Saturday showing another lockdown was likely before Christmas if restrictions were eased with case numbers are their current level.
Mr Andrews released research by the government and its partners Melbourne University and the University of New England that modelled 1000 different scenarios and found Victoria was unlikely to have suppressed the virus by mid-September.
It found that if restrictions were eased when the average number of new daily cases was above 25 for a fortnight, there was a 60 per cent chance of returning to lockdown before Christmas. The average number of daily cases over the past week has been 84
On Saturday night, health authorities announced viral fragments of coronavirus had been detected in wastewater taken from a sewer network at Apollo Bay in south-western Victoria.
The findings prompted a warning from Victorian Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton for those living in Apollo Bay and nearby communities, who have even very mild symptoms of coronavirus, to get tested and isolate while they wait for their results.
Professor Sutton said while the preliminary result may not mean there are currently active cases of COVID-19 in the Apollo Bay community, the Department of Health and Human Services has stepped up testing.
He stressed while the result may not signify any current cases and could represent virus shed from people who had travelled through the coastal from neighbouring areas, it has provided an opportunity to increase testing and minimise potential transmission.
"Until we have a highly effective and available vaccine, early detection and prevention are the keys to combating coronavirus," Professor Sutton said.
"Wastewater testing provides an additional and complementary tool to the existing public health response and can provide early warning that coronavirus is in a community before traditional testing methods.
"Finding cases early can help our disease detectives track the spread of the virus and implement strategies to minimise transmission preventing hotspots or clusters before they have time to develop."
The department is analysing sewage for fragments of coronavirus at sites across Victoria as part of a national research program.