Another 19 people in Victoria have died, and 331 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the state overnight.
A group of police and soldiers patrol the Docklands area of Melbourne on August 2, 2020. Photo: AFP
The state reported 322 infections and 19 deaths, its biggest one-day rise in casualties, a day earlier.
Health Minister Jenny Mikakos previously said the new protocol was to tweet the numbers ahead of any press conferences.
Victoria last week began a six-week total lockdown, closing down shops and businesses to contain a second wave of infections requiring its five million residents to stay home.
Premier Daniel Andrews, Mikakos and senior bureaucrats are set to face a parliamentary inquiry into the government's response to the pandemic.
They're all expected to face questions about their knowledge and handling of the hotel quarantine system.
Meanwhile, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian says there have been 22 new coronavirus infections in her state, including several fresh cases linked to a school in Sydney's north west.
It is the highest number of new infections recorded in a day in NSW in almost four months - the last figure this high was on 16 April, with 29 cases.
"At least a third, or eight, of those are from the new cluster at the Tangara School," Berejiklian said.
Yesterday, NSW Health said there were nine cases linked to the outbreak at Tangara School for Girls in Cherrybrook.
The original source of the cluster is still under investigation and the school is closed until August 24 while cleaning and contact tracing is underway.
The Premier said four of the 22 new cases were returned international travellers in hotel quarantine, while another two acquired their infections in Victoria.
In Queensland, no new cases of Covid-19 were recorded overnight. There are still 11 active cases in the state.
- ABC / Reuters