Vic records 19 deaths, 331 new virus cases

It takes the state's death toll to 246 and the national figure to 331 - an increase of just 18 because of a double-up in Monday's figures.

A woman in her 50s, a man in his 70s, six women in their 80s, four men in their 80s, four women and three men in their 90s are Victoria's latest virus victims.

Of the new deaths, 14 are linked to aged care outbreaks.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Tuesday said aged care homes worst hit by the virus were starting to see some stability in new cases. But there were also fresh outbreaks in other homes.

Almost 400 aged care patients in Victoria have been taken to hospital.

It comes as the premier defends ongoing delays in contact tracing.

"When you're dealing with this many people, this task, as challenging as it is, it will never be completely perfect," her told reporters.

The premier also said it was too soon to see what impact Melbourne's stage four lockdown was having on the numbers.

There have been 15,251 cases confirmed in Victoria so far, with 650 people currently in hospital. Of those, 47 are in intensive care and 24 are on ventilators.

Cases with no known source remain an issue - they have reached 2903, an overnight increase of 40 according to health department statistics - and 1185 health workers are infected.

The details were revealed after Mr Andrews fronted a state parliament inquiry into Labor's handling of the pandemic.

He was questioned by the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee's deputy chair Richard Riordan about the botched hotel quarantine program, which has been blamed for Victoria's second wave.

The premier deflected specific questions about who was ultimately responsible for the quarantine failures.

It followed a leaked video showing bureaucrats from the Department of Jobs, Precincts and the Regions congratulating themselves on pulling together the program and efforts to make quarantine comfortable, according to the Herald Sun.

There was no discussion of the health restrictions put in place.

"Did the crisis cabinet think hotel quarantine would be better run by people who fix roads and run an art gallery than your own health department," Mr Riordan asked the premier on Tuesday.

"The answer to your question is no. At no point did people make a decision like that," Mr Andrews responded.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos, Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kym Peake were also appearing before the committee on Tuesday.

Australian Associated Press