Fears for central Victoria as three schools, nursing home exposed

There are fears Melbourne's escalating coronavirus crisis is seeping further into regional Victoria with three schools and a nursing home in central Victoria exposed.

RELATED: Victoria records 723 new cases of COVID-19, 13 deaths in deadliest day

It comes as Premier Daniel Andrews announced new coronavirus measures for regional Victoria this morning, including a ban on visitors inside homes in the Geelong corridor and compulsory mask-use state-wide.

In Bendigo, two hours north of Melbourne, two schools have been closed for deep cleaning and contact training after reporting positive cases of COVID-19.

A student and family members at Catherine McAuley College have tested positive, the school confirmed late last night.

Both campuses of the Catholic co-ed school will be closed for the remainder of the school week, but will reopen for remote learning from Monday, the school confirmed in a message to parents.

St Joseph's Primary School in the Bendigo suburb of Quakers Hill has also closed after a staff member tested positive.

A third regional Victorian school, Holy Rosary in Heathcote, has also closed as a precaution due to a connection to one of the positive cases.

In Kangaroo Flat, the Royal Freemasons Aged Care Home also reported a positive case in a member of staff overnight, according to the Bendigo Advertiser.

There are now a total of 255 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in regional Victoria.

Speaking at today's COVID-19 press conference, Mr Andrews said despite the new cases, numbers still remained low in the state's regions and "we want to keep them low".

From 11.59pm on Sunday, all residents in regional Victoria are required to wear masks when going out in public.

The same penalties for failing to wear a mask will apply as those currently in place in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire, Mr Andrews confirmed.

Mr Andrews said he was "confident" not many fines would need to be issued.

"I think people in regional Victoria will embrace this, just as people in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire have," he said.

"We're already seeing in a number of regional communities where people are wearing masks and we are grateful to them.

"The costs are quite low and the impact, really, when you think about it is quite low but the public health dividend, the virus spread dividend, is very, very high."

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