Nine public housing towers across two Melbourne suburbs have been placed under immediate lockdown, amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak.
The state government has locked down the public housing apartment blocks, located in Flemington and Morth Melbourne, effective immediately.
Victoria Premier Dan Andrews said the nine public housing towers would be in "hard lockdown" for five days.
Approximately 3000 people including children are residents of the buildings.
No one is allowed to enter or exit the residences - unless they are residents returning home.
Mr Andrews conceded the measures could be "traumatic" for the residents.
He said "every single resident" of the nine towers would be tested, except for those who had already been tested.
In Flemington, the following buildings are affected by the lockdown: 12 Holland Court, 120 Racecourse Road, 126 Racecourse Road and 130 Racecourse Road are all subject.
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In North Melbourne, the following sites are affected: 12 Sutton Street, North Melbourne, 33 Alfred Street in North Melbourne, 76 Canning Street in North Melbourne, 159 Melrose Street in North Melbourne and 9 Pampus Street in North Melbourne.
Minister for Housing Richard Wynne said the nine towers were home to some of the state's most vulnerable residents and did not rule out relief and hardship payments to support the residents.
"I want to reassure all of our public housing tenants who are affected by this is that we will put in place all of the measures that will be required to support them in the most practical way," Mr Wynne said.
"Whether it is in relation to medical support, whether it is in relation to mental health support, drug and alcohol support, obviously the most basic things around food and in that context."
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In a statement, Mr Andrews said the nature of apartment blocks where people are living in close confines meant the virus could "spread like wildfire".
As such, he said, a perimeter would also be established around the buildings describing the involvement of police in the measures as "unprecedented".
Mr Andrews said 108 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the state in the past 24 hours.
He said the new cases should be of major concern to all Victorians and encouraged anyone who was sick to get tested.
Of the 108 new cases in the state 69 are being investigated.
Twelve suburbs are currently in lockdown.
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