Encouraging signs Victoria reaching virus peak.
It is not yet clear whether infections in Victoria's second coronavirus surge have peaked, although there have been encouraging signs in recent days.
Victoria recorded 394 new cases on Sunday, down from 466 on Saturday, but it was the state's deadliest day with 17 deaths confirmed.
The deaths included two people in their 50s, four in their 70s, six in their 80s, and five in their 90s.
43 Victorians are in intensive care, with 26 on ventilators.
"It appears we're on the plateau," Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth told reporters in Canberra.
"I think the challenging thing about COVID-19 is you never really know where you are on the curve."
He said it will depend on how low the reproductive number can be brought down and ideally towards 0.5.
"We don't have enough data at the moment from the numbers to see whether that's approaching 0.5 but hopefully in the coming days ... we will see that," he said.
He also again reminded Australians, not just in Victoria, that in the absence of a vaccine there are just two blunt tools to tackle the virus - extreme social distancing and level-four restrictions as seen in Melbourne.
Six people were arrested outside state parliament on Sunday for breaching public health orders while protesting the lockdown and refusing to provide identification to police. They were released once they did so and fined $1652 each.
Six people turned up to a protest that was expected to be attended by up to 400 people on Sunday in Melbourne's CBD. All were arrested and fined. Image: Darrian Traynor/Getty. The Victorian government is investing $60 million to keep people suffering acute mental illness at home and away from the stress of emergency departments during the pandemic.
Free kinder for all Victorians.
All kinder will be free in Victoria for the remainder of the school term, with the state government extending its sector support program and contributing an additional $1.6 million in grants.
