Australia’s coronavirus hotspot of Victoria will look into ways to increase testing for the disease to control its spread in anticipation of easing of the state’s stringent lockdown restrictions, officials have said.

New daily coronavirus infections in Victoria, Australia’s second most-populous state, fell to nine cases, down from 12 in the previous days. No deaths were reported.

“We want everybody who has symptoms, regardless of their circumstances, to be able to get tested, we get their results and that’s how we can protect them and indeed, the entire community,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said in a televised briefing.

“There is some work going on in the next few days to see if we can increase the number of people who are eligible and increase the number of people who can get those tests,” he added.

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