SWAN Hill residents will be made to wear a mask from next week after a "significant" jump in confirmed COVID-19 cases in regional communities.

The wearing of a mask or face covering will be mandatory across regional Victoria from 11.59pm on Sunday.

The announcement came as Victoria recorded its highest case numbers with 723 new cases and 13 deaths yesterday.

There are currently more than 255 active cases in regional Victoria.

Residents in six local government areas will be banned from having visitors over from Friday, as case numbers grow in the Geelong corridor.

Mr Andrews also admitted the mandatory mask wearing was "essentially stage four for Melbourne" and now was the time for regional areas to also step up, although many people in large regional centres were already doing so.

"These are preventive steps," he said.

"They will be inconvenient for some."

Victoria's death toll stands at 105, and is Australia's worst.

There have been six overall cases in the Swan Hill local government area, two of which remain active.

Mr Andrews said the ADF had been door knocking people in quarantine but again people were defying the rules and leaving their homes which was "disappointing".

"If you are a positive case you need to be at home and you need to be isolating," he said at his daily press conference yesterday.

The latest cases relate to aged care but workplaces remain the biggest issue with "too many people going to work with symptoms and people going to work with a positive result."

The Premier revealed defence members who door-knocked 269 homes on Wednesday were shocked when they visited the home of a person who had tested positive, only to be informed by a family member that the person was at work.

Mr Andrews said all Victorian secondary school students will be required to wear face masks.

The government has promised to distribute them ready for when mandatory mask rules come into effect.

A $200 fine for being caught not wearing a mask will also apply for regional Victoria.

Mr Andrews said anyone over the age of 12 should wear masks to school, following advice from the Chief Health Officer.

"It will not be any different to the way things operate in metro Melbourne at the moment," Mr Andrews said.

"The age key factor is 12. Any younger than this, you shouldn't be wearing a mask.

"This will be by-and-large secondary schools, but we will not be going around and finding 12 year olds in grade six."

He said teachers must also wear masks "where appropriate".

"It's not always appropriate based on being able to see the teacher's facial expression and their ability to communicate," Mr Andrews said.

"It's about applying common sense and a shared commitment.

Mr Andrews stressed that face coverings such as scarves or bandanas are also acceptable and encouraged people to look online for patterns to make their own.

"Our secondary students are an impressive group, there are lots of creative things being done in Melbourne. I'm pretty sure all this will be replicated in regional Victoria as well," he said.

Liberal Democrats Member for Northern Victoria Tim Quilty has called for Victoria Police to be equipped with supplies of face masks to give to the public in readiness for Monday's new regulations.

"Masks may well be a good idea for controlling infection, but the government doesn't need to make it mandatory with fines," Mr Quilty said.

"Good ideas do not require force — the government could simply have told us they are now recommending across Victoria that face coverings are needed when people go out. Most of us would follow the advice — there is no need for heavy handed police enforcement.

"I'd like to see the police handing out masks to people instead of punishing them with fines.

"They should be offering guidance on the best ways to prevent spread, so that everybody knows the best way to stop this virus."

Mr Quilty said the rule had been introduced with little consideration of how people will be able to comply.

"It's disappointing that the explosion of cases in Melbourne has led to this knee-jerk response, which will leave huge numbers of regional residents uncertain as to what constitutes a valid face covering," Mr Quilty said.

"Within an hour of the announcement, the pharmacist near my office had sold out of disposable face masks completely, a situation which I am sure will be repeated across the whole state of Victoria.

"Instead of preparing to hand out fines, the police should be carrying stocks of masks so that we can all help play our part."

Mr Quilty said the threat of fines was symptomatic of the Victorian Government's heavy-handed approach to dealing with the coronavirus crisis.

"We have seen from the very start that Mr Andrews prefers to force people to take preventative measures rather than a more collaborative approach," Mr Quilty said.

"Let the police hand out masks, not fines."