* Australia has broken another infection record with 549 new cases on Monday, 532 in Victoria and the remaining 17 in NSW.

* Six more Victorians have died - including five aged care residents - with the casualties ranging in age from a man in his 50s to a woman in her 90s. The deaths take the state's toll to 77 and the national figure to 161.

* Almost one in 10 people infected in Victoria since April have been aged care residents or staff, representing more than 600 cases.

* Premier Daniel Andrews has warned if workplace transmission continue to rise he will shut down industries as he implored Victorians experiencing symptoms not to go to work.

* Orders requiring people to wear masks in public - and fines for those who don't - do not breech human rights laws, authorities have confirmed, with businesses allowed to refuse entry to people not following the rules.

* The NSW government will offer stamp duty relief for first home buyers who will pay nothing on newly-built homes worth up to $800,000, before the concession reduces then phases out at properties worth $1 million.

* A union survey of aged care workers found only 16 per cent have been offered paid pandemic sick leave while one in three report not having enough hand sanitiser and gloves.

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ECONOMICS

* Universities are set to plead for extra financial support when they face the COVID-19 Senate committee on Tuesday.

* RBA Assistant Governor Chris Kent says the central bank can buy government bonds again if market conditions deteriorate significantly but this has not been required for several months.

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KEY DATES

* July 28 - From midnight, South Australians will not be allowed to return home from Victoria while caps will be re-imposed on family gatherings, funerals and weddings.

* August 7 - Tasmania will allow travellers from South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. A decision will also be made on including NSW, Queensland and ACT.

* August 15 - Tentative date for WA to lift all remaining restrictions, except border closures and access to remote Aboriginal communities.

* August 19 - The date flagged for Victoria's six-week lockdown to end at 11.59pm.

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AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS

* Australia's total number of cases is now 14,935 with 5463 active and 9311 recovered.

* The national death toll as of Monday is 161: NSW 49, Victoria 77, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).

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GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS

* Cases: at least 16,424,021

* Deaths: at least 652,332

* Recovered: at least 10,052,673

Data current as of 1730 AEST July 27, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.

Australian Associated Press