Australia's virus toll passes 200

A woman in a face mask in central Melbourne. Photo: Getty
A woman in a face mask in central Melbourne. Photo: Getty
Australia's Covid-19 toll has risen to 201 with three deaths in Victoria and one in New South Wales, as health officials weigh up whether stay-at-home orders in place across Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire are doing enough.

Victoria recorded 397 new cases on Saturday, significantly less than Thursday's peak of 723, and the deaths of a man and woman in their 80s, and a woman in her 90s.

The state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton on Friday confirmed a New Zealand-style lockdown was being explored - restrictions which saw all businesses closed except for essential services.

Experts are working over the weekend to analyse infection data from the first half of Victoria's six-week lockdown.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews on Saturday admitted further lockdown rules could prove a "circuit breaker" for the continued Covid-19 cases, and that the state government is working through the details.

"What we have at the moment are numbers that are too high of community transmission and that is a concern to us," Mr Andrews told reporters.

"It is not a tap you can just turn on or off. They (further restrictions) are not decisions that would be taken lightly because there are significant costs ... even minor changes have a significant cost."

NSW on Saturday confirmed 17 new cases, sparking the closure of several Sydney venues for deep cleaning and contact tracing after being linked to coronavirus infections.

An 83-year-old man connected to the Crossroads Hotel outbreak in southwest Sydney on Saturday died, taking the NSW death toll to 52.

Queensland's latest case of Covid-19 is a woman who may have been infectious while working at a Brisbane nursing home.

The facility at Pinjarra Hills in Brisbane's west had already been put under lock down after the woman's husband tested positive on Friday.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles said extra nurses had been provided to the facility, and all staff and the residents at the home were being tested.

Adelaide is set to receive 170 people on Saturday on a repatriation flight from India, with all going into hotel quarantine. Officials are expecting at least some to have Covid-19.