Two people have died from coronavirus in Victoria, taking the national COVID-19 death toll to 110.
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The two cases, a man and a woman, were both in their 80s and died in Victorian hospitals on Tuesday afternoon.
There have been 26 coronavirus deaths in Victoria since the pandemic began.
It comes as federal health authorities revealed more than 80 per cent of coronavirus patients in Victorian intensive care units are on ventilators.
Commonwealth deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd warned of further hospitalisations in Victoria as more community transmission was detected.
Of the 26 patients in intensive care units, 21 are on ventilators, Dr Kidd confirmed.
Nationwide, 90 patients are in hospital due to coronavirus, 85 of them in Victoria, where millions in metropolitan Melbourne are in lockdown.
Dr Kidd said some of those in Victorian hospitals were moved from residential aged care facilities as a precaution, but said the figures were of a concern.
"If we continue to see community transmission, we will see more older people, more people who are at serious risk if they contract COVID, being hospitalised," he said.
"Clearly everything that we are doing is to prevent that from happening and to save more lives.
"We all remain very concerned about the outbreaks we are seeing in residential aged care facilities in Melbourne."
In the 24 hours to midday on Tuesday, 284 new cases of coronavirus were detected, 270 of them in Victoria.
Of the remaining cases, 11 were locally acquired in NSW, while three were in hotel quarantine.
Tuesday also marked a grim milestone with national coronavirus cases surpassing 10,000.
"In the past seven days, only 4 per cent of cases in Australia have been overseas acquired," Dr Kidd said.
The federal government has announced an extra 5 million masks will be distributed to support workers in aged care and primary health care services including GP clinics and community pharmacies in Melbourne.
Dr Kidd said the government's COVID-safe app was being used to help identify potential cases of the virus.
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"The reports we've had from the states and territories is that the app is useful and it is picking up cases that the contact tracers are also picking up," he said.
"But clearly, we need as many people to have the app downloaded as possible if we are going to be able to pick up those people who do not know. This is of course where the app comes in to its own."
Dr Kidd did not say how many cases the app had helped to identify, saying that data was held by state or territory health authorities.
Meanwhile, a hotel in Jindabyne has become the first NSW to be shut down for failing to comply with public health orders and social distancing requirements.
The venue was fined $5000 on Tuesday, after multiple formal warnings were issued after large groups of people were seen inside failing to carry out social distancing, along with public intoxication levels.
The venue was closed on Saturday night and remained closed for 72 hours.
- For information on COVID-19, please go to the ACT Health website or the federal Health Department's website.
- You can also call the Coronavirus Health Information Line on 1800 020 080
- If you have serious symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, call Triple Zero (000)
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