Australia's hotspot sees second-highest tally

Australia's hotspot state of Victoria reported 374 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the second-highest daily tally the country has ever recorded.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews announced three more deaths in the state, bringing the national toll 126.

Andrews said a six-week lockdown that began two weeks ago in Australia's second-largest city Melbourne and neighbouring semi-rural Mitchell Shire was having an impact.

"You'd like to see numbers coming down. At the end of the day though, we're not seeing the doubling and doubling again" of cases, Andrews told reporters in Melbourne.

"So, what that says to me ... is that the sorts of measures we've put in place are having a direct impact," he added.

Since a record 428 cases were reported on Friday, Victoria has recorded 217, 363 and 275 cases on consecutive days.

Tighter regulations will come into force on the state border with New South Wales on Wednesday that will only allow border communities to cross for essential work, health and education reasons.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australian military personnel were helping Victorian health authorities deal with the growing caseload.

Meanwhile, 13 new cases were reported in the New South Wales, including two people who attended services late last week at the Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Co-Cathedral in Sydney, where a pop-up testing clinic was set up on Tuesday for parishioners to be tested.