Melbourne's lockdown extended for another week

Melbourne's coronavirus lockdown will be extended for another seven days, Acting Premier James Merlino has confirmed after six new locally acquired coronavirus cases were recorded, taking the state's outbreak to 60.

The state's seven-day circuit breaker lockdown was due to end at 11:59pm Thursday, but will now run for at least another week. However Restrictions will ease in regional Victoria from 11:59pm on Thursday.

Victoria records six new locally acquired COVID cases as more than 51,000 Victorians get tested for coronavirus.

The government yesterday highlighted its concerns that the Kappa variant involved in the outbreak was more infectious than previous strains, with contact tracers identifying transmission occurring between strangers with what Victoria's COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar called only "fleeting" contact.

Kimberley Prather, a distinguished professor in atmospheric chemistry at the University of California, said it was true that new variants, such as the Kappa variant spreading in Victoria, were "more transmissible".

"Which means that measures that you used before, you know how long you interact, the masks you wear, that worked before … may not be working so well now," she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

This strain was first detected in India and has since spread to more than 40 countries, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) identifying it as a “variant of concern” as it appears to be much more infectious than other strains.

The World Health Organisation on Monday announced that the B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2 variants of the Covid-19 - first identified in India - have been named as 'Kappa' and 'Delta' respectively.

WHO adviser and University of NSW Professor Mary-Louise McLaws said from an epidemiological perspective, Victoria’s cluster was still growing, and lockdown extension is necessary.

“It’s growing and it’s growing fast and hasn’t shown any sign of slowing down,” she said

NSW on alert after man travels north.  Late last night, Victoria's health department revealed a recent case had travelled up into New South Wales while potentially infectious, resulting in exposure sites being listed for regional Victorian service stations along the Hume Freeway and in Jervis Bay, Goulburn, Hyams Beach and Vincentia in NSW.

Health Department Secretary Brendan Murphy said most of the six new cases reported in Victoria today were family contacts of that man who travelled to New South Wales.

Professor Murphy told Senate Estimates none of the new cases were either aged care residents or staff.

Australian Medical Association president, Omar Khorshid, said the pace of community transmission in Victoria was very concerning.