Australia's hard-hit Victoria state on Monday posted a new daily record of 532 new Covid-19 cases as infections also spiked in China and Hong Kong.
Victoria's state capital Melbourne is almost half way through a six-week lockdown aimed at curbing community spread of coronavirus. Mask-wearing in Australia's second-largest city became compulsory last week.
The new cases and six deaths reported on Monday surpass a previous record of 484 new infections reported last Wednesday.
Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said the biggest source of the new infections is people continuing to go to work after showing symptoms.
"This is what is driving these numbers up and the lockdown will not end until people stop going to work with symptoms and instead go and get tested," Mr Andrews said.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for patience in Victoria.
"There has been significant community transmission in Victoria. That will take some time to get on top of," Mr Morrison said.
Australian Deputy Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd said New South Wales is the only other state or territory to record new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, reported 17 new cases.
Of the 259 Covid-19 patients in Australian hospitals, 245 were in Victoria.
Australia's death toll has risen to 161 with six deaths in Victoria, mostly in aged care. There were more than 600 cases of Covid-19 among residents and staff at Melbourne aged care homes, Mr Kidd said.
It comes as Hong Kong announced that it will ban dining in at restaurants completely and make it mandatory to wear masks in all public places.
The city is battling a worsening Covid-19 outbreak that has infected over 1,000 people in the last two weeks.
The tightened measures will be effective for at least one week starting on Wednesday. They are an extension of a previous ban on eating at restaurants after 6pm, as well as a mandatory wearing of masks on public transport. A ban on public gatherings of more than four people has also been tightened, with gatherings limited to two people.
Meanwhile, China reported 46 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily tally in more than a month, as it took steps to stem recent outbreaks that have infected more than 160 people at opposite ends of the country.
Authorities confirmed 22 cases in Urumqi, a city in the Xinjiang region in the country's far west, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The city is home to the Uighur people, an oppressed minority group. That raised the total in the area to 137 since the first case was detected 10 days ago.
Another 13 cases were confirmed in Liaoning province in the northeast, bringing the total there to 25, almost all in the city of Dalian.
The National Health Commission also reported 11 imported cases in the latest 24-hour period, in people who had arrived from overseas.
China has recorded 83,830 cases and 4,634 deaths since the pandemic began. The Health Commission said that 288 patients remain in treatment, including 18 in critical condition.
