Authorities in Australian state of Victoria make masks compulsory for all

Premier Daniel Andrews on Thursday said the latest fatalities were three men and three women in their 70s, three men and two women in their 80s, and two men aged in their 90s. "What I would say on restrictions, we still have numbers that are way too high".

Andrews implored people to stay at home if they feel sick to curb the virus' spread.

'We can not open up with these numbers, we can not open up with significantly less than these numbers'.

Australia's COVID-19 crisis is intensifying, with a record 723 new infections reported in the state of Victoria in the past day.

10 of deaths are believed to be connected to aged care as the number of active cases associated with aged care exceed 900.

It marks a worrying new surge in cases after Victorians were given hope by a fall in case numbers in the past two days.

The scale of economic devastation from the pandemic was laid bare as Western economies recorded historic slumps, just as resurgent caseloads forced many countries into new trade-offs between health and financial stability.

There are 312 people in hospital and a little more than 30 people who are in intensive care. Five million people are subject to stay-at-home orders.

The United States counted 1,379 new deaths from the virus in 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In Japan, Tokyo's governor called for restaurants, bars and karaoke parlours to shut earlier as the capital reported a record number of new infections.

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"They perhaps thought that they wouldn't be in the frame, that they would be able to ignore their positive case, the fact that they have this virus", Andrews said. However, the state's growing infection rate has made these jokes feel a little less timely and sees our situation growing a little grimmer. The US, Brazil, India, and Russian Federation are now the countries hardest hit in the world.

'There'll be a multitude of reasons for that, but what I can confirm for you is that more than 100 cases have been referred to Victoria Police'. U.S. travellers are still barred and Algeria was removed after a spike in cases.

Victoria recorded 627 new cases on Friday, with eight dying from disease - four in aged care - taking the national tally to 197.

It had not recorded a locally transmitted infection for almost 100 days.

More than 130 Victorians who have tested positive for COVID-19 were not at home in recent days, Premier Daniel Andrews has revealed.

Since then almost 100 people who had travelled to Danang have tested positive across the country, leaving health authorities scrambling to snuff out the outbreak.

The second most populous state has also posted its highest daily cases and deaths since March, with 723 cases from Wednesday.

There were 19,921 coronavirus tests conducted yesterday - that's about 5000 fewer than the daily average this month.

St Basil's was being managed by the Federal Government, he confirmed.