Coronavirus Australia live updates: 49 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in Victoria

Australia's deputy medical chief has refuted ideas Victoria is seeing a second wave of COVID-19, saying the outbreak is "exactly what was planned".

Victoria has recorded its highest number of new cases since early April, reporting 49 new cases of COVID-19 overnight. 

But of the new cases - which bring the state's tally to 2036 - only four are linked to known outbreaks, sparking concern over widespread community transmission. 

Despite this, Australia's deputy chief medical officer Michael Kidd has said the outbreak in Victoria is "not a second wave" and explained why the state has seen a drastic spike.

"What we're seeing happen in Victoria is exactly what was planned when we have outbreaks occurring across the country with the immediate increase in the testing, the activation of the contact tracing to identify individuals who have been in contact with infected people and the very rapid action to get people into isolation and quarantine and to prevent further transmission from occurring within the community," he said.

Chief health officer Brett Sutton said health authorities would have a clearer picture tomorrow of whether the 45 cases under investigation might also be linked to existing clusters. 

"Again, with yesterday's numbers at 41, the great majority of those ended up being linked to known outbreaks and clusters. I imagine it will be the same for today." 

Professor Sutton warned, "Unfortunately we will see deaths associated with it because it represents a lot of transmission and there will be a lot of vulnerable people potentially exposed." 

He urged residents in hotspot areas to "minimise your interaction with other people to the fullest extent that you can". 

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Australia has recorded 7694 cases of coronavirus, with 3177 in New South Wales, 2036 in Victoria, 1067 in Queensland, 609 in Western Australia, 440 in South Australia, 228 in Tasmania, 108 in the ACT and 29 in the Northern Territory.

The death toll stands at 104.