SYDNEY — Australia recorded its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday and the biggest daily rise in infections in three days.

As many as 21 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours and all of them were recorded in the state of Victoria.

The deaths, tweeted by the Victoria Department of Health early Wednesday, brought the state death total to 267 and the national toll to 352.

Melbourne, the capital of Victoria which is home to 4.9 million people, is under a six-week strict lockdown with a night curfew and mandatory mask wearing in a bid to limit the spread of the virus.

Melbourne recorded 410 new virus cases overnight, up from the previous day's increase of 331.

The bulk of the deaths in Victoria have come from aged care homes, but some were people aged in their 40s and 50s.

Victoria is the epicenter of the second wave of Australia's COVID-19 outbreak, with other states barring anyone from Victoria from entering unless they go into self-funded hotel quarantine for two weeks.

Clusters of infections have broken out in Sydney in the past week, with several restaurants and schools closed after people tested positive.

National figures for the past 24 hours have yet to be released but outside the two largest states of Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) the virus has been effectively eliminated.

Authorities in NSW are scrambling to trace infections linked to a new cluster at a school in Sydney, which has raised fears of more widespread community transmission than previously known in Australia’s most populous state. — Agencies