Health workers fanned out across suburbs of Melbourne in a testing blitz aimed at choking off a surge in coronavirus cases in Australia's second biggest city, according to AFP.

Officials reported another 30 new Covid-19 infections in the city overnight in a continuing outbreak that has raised fears of a second wave in Australia, which looked like it had successfully contained the epidemic.

It was the tenth straight day of double digit rises in new cases in Melbourne and surrounding Victoria state, while most other Australian regions have seen no or low single-digit new infections for weeks.