Australia's Victoria state, the country's second-most populous, has reported the biggest one-day rise in locally acquired Covid-19 cases in more than a year, reports Reuters.

Victoria state says it has detected 450 locally acquired Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, the biggest one-day rise since August 8, 2020.

Meanwhile, Queensland state says five new Covid-19 cases have been detected in the past 24 hours, stoking fears Australia's third-largest state could be next to be swamped by new infections.