Australia recorded its deadliest day in the coronavirus pandemic on Thursday with at least 13 deaths and more than 700 new infections mainly in Victoria, where the government ordered all residents to wear face-coverings outside.

The toll takes the countrys total fatalities from the novel coronavirus to 189, more than half of which have occurred in the Victoria and Melbourne, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Australia had prided itself on rapidly containing the initial COVID-19 outbreak but a second wave which began in Victoria last month has forced Melbourne back into lockdown and sparked outbreaks in other areas including Sydney.

Weve now been in this lockdown (in Melbourne) for some weeks and we are not getting the results we would hope for, and as a result the further measures that are taken are certainly necessary, Morrison told reporters, backing the restrictions announced by the Victorian government.