Victoria on Wednesday reported 76 new cases and 11 deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
A day earlier the state reported eight deaths and 55 cases.
Meanwhile Premier Daniel Andrews defended the state’s path out of the second wave on Tuesday amid criticism of its handling of the crisis from the federal government.
Andrews reintroduced tough movement restrictions in the state capital Melbourne in early August, including a nightly curfew, as most other states and territories relaxed lockdown measures.
The Victoria measures, due to end on the weekend, were broadly extended until September 28, although with some small changes that eased some aspects of the restrictions.
“The worst case scenario is being open for three or four weeks, and then being closed down again,” he said.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told radio station 3AW on Tuesday that Victoria might have avoided a second wave and been able to ease restrictions sooner if its virus tracing system was more than like that of New South Wales.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has warned of the cost of the Melbourne lockdown to the national economy.
“I’ll continue to work very closely with the prime minister and his team. We’re very grateful for the partnership that we have, but in my judgement, if I could be so bold to have a judgement on these things, I think I’ve got some insight into what’s happening here in our state,” he said.
“The worst case scenario is you’er open for three or four weeks, because you pretend it’s over, when it isn’t, then we’re all back locked down again. The only way, the data, the doctors, the science, the only way to go, is to do this in safe and steady steps.”
NSW reported nine new cases in the 24 hours to Tuesday, while Queensland reported one. Most other regions have been case-free for weeks.