MILDURA has ticked off a third week without any new coronavirus cases.

But an increase of 13 cases in Victoria shows that the "battle against COVID-19 is far from over".

"Victorians have done a remarkable job so far sticking to the coronavirus restrictions and staying at home has saved lives," Victoria's Chief Health Officer Professor Brett Sutton said on Sunday. "But now is not the time for complacency."

Mildura stores have started to reopen given the limited number of cases in north-west Victoria. Swan Hill has also recorded just three cases since the start of the outbreak in Australia.

And despite strict isolation rules, department stores such as Bunnings on Fifteenth Street and Kmart in the CBD were very busy over the weekend, prompting fear among some Sunraysia Daily readers that locals were becoming too complacent.

"I was at the Mildura plaza today. I along with supermarket staff were appalled at the amount of people hanging around chatting as if there is nothing wrong," Lyn Rogers wrote on Sunraysia Daily's Facebook site. "Obviously social isolation is not a concern for many in Mildura but it makes it twice as hard for those of us who are doing the right thing. There are rules for a reason. It is not good enough."

And this from Meredith Ann on Saturday:

"The shops today were so busy like nothing was going on," she wrote. "Families out...I can foresee our diagnosis going up again. Stay at home."

But Gordon Lewis had a different view:

"If there is no more current confirmed cases in Mildura, the restrictions should be eased," he wrote.

The total number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Victoria is 1384 – an increase of 13 since yesterday.

There were no new deaths reported yesterday. To date, 18 people have died from coronavirus in Victoria.

Six of the new cases of COVID-19 were in workers at a Melbourne meat processing facility, taking the total number of cases in this cluster to 15.

The department is working closely with the company, which agreed to close their facility as a precaution to ensure all required steps are taken, including a thorough cleaning process. All staff have been tested or are in the process of being tested.

All staff are being provided with further information on potential exposure to coronavirus in the workplace, symptoms and quarantine requirements.

"Today's increase in cases illustrates once again that while we have been flattening the curve, our battle against COVID-19 is far from over," Professor Sutton said.

Three of today's new cases stem from testing in the community as part of a Victorian Government blitz that will help inform decisions about potentially slowly lifting restrictions ahead of the State of Emergency being reviewed on 11 May. These cases are under further investigation.

"Up to 100,000 Victorians will be tested for coronavirus during these two weeks as part of a major testing blitz across the state," Professor Sutton said.

"We've more than doubled the number of daily tests we're conducting since the introduction of this blitz and these results will be reflected in coming days.

"The main aim of this increase in testing is to improve access and actively search for cases, allowing us to gain a better picture of this virus and make informed decisions for Victoria."________________________________________________________