As it happened: Victoria records 148 new COVID-19 cases as Daniel Andrews flags state of emergency extension; Australian death toll jumps to 525

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As of this evening there are 3965 active cases of COVID-19 in Australia: 3738 (94 per cent) are in Victoria, 196 in New South Wales, 18 in Queensland, nine in Western Australia, three in South Australia, one in Tasmania and zero in the ACT and Northern Territory.

Let's take a look back at the major stories of the day:

• Prime Minister Scott Morrison blamed "unacceptable" failures in Victoria for deepening the coronavirus crisis as he comes under more pressure in Parliament over his response to infections in aged care.

• Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said he was prepared to compromise to get extended state of emergency legislation through the upper house after members of the crossbench and federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg raised concerns.

• NSW Police have been forced to remove hundreds of people from one of Sydney's quarantine hotels after the facility was deemed not up to standard.
• The West Australian government had a win in the first stage of its border war with businessman Clive Palmer after the Federal Court found the 'hard border' strategy was the most effective method of keeping coronavirus out of the state.
• The South Australian government announced it would reinstate a 40-kilometre travel buffer zone for border communities from this Friday.
• Qantas is set to slash up to 2400 jobs and fashion retailer Mosaic, which is behind brands such as Rivers and Noni B, has announced it will close between 300 and 500 stores.

• There's some hope for Victorian parents with Education Minister James Merlino confident students will be back in classrooms - with Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton's approval - sometime in term four.

• State government analysis showed up to 80 per cent of the almost 2700 Victorian healthcare staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 caught it at work.

• In Perth, a woman has been jailed for trying to sneak into the state after travelling from Melbourne, while a Melbourne magnate who used his super yacht to sail his family away from winter lockdown to sunny Queensland will be required to quarantine.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has blamed "unacceptable" failures in Victoria for deepening the coronavirus crisis as he comes under more pressure in Parliament over his response to infections in aged care.

In his strongest attack so far on the state government's performance, Mr Morrison slammed the problems with hotel quarantine, contact tracing and virus testing under Premier Daniel Andrews.

Mr Morrison insisted Australia had performed better in aged care than other countries and backed the Aged Care Minister, Richard Colbeck, against claims he had been sidelined.

Some Liberal MPs spoke up for the embattled minister in the Coalition party room on Tuesday, but others expressed frustration with his performance and with the Prime Minister's defence.

Department of Health and Human Services data has broken down coronavirus testing rates by local government area for the first time.

The map below shows the testing rate for each of Victoria's 79 local government areas over the past fortnight. By default it shows Greater Melbourne but use the zoom controls to view data for rural and regional areas as well.

In local government areas with active coronavirus cases, testing rates were between 25 and 50 tests per 1000 residents over the past fortnight.

Testing rates tended to be lower in areas with few or no active cases and greater in areas with a higher infection rate.

There's been a lot of news and opinion generated by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' announced bid to extend the state's COVID-19 state of emergency by 12-months yesterday.

While the Premier went to great lengths today to explain that state of emergency legislation was not the mechanism that allows for the enforcement of curfews and other harsh restrictions, the political pushback on the plan has gone all the way to Canberra.

All but one of the crossbenchers who spoke to The Age on Tuesday said they were opposed to the government’s proposal and would vote with the Liberals and Nationals to defeat the move when Labor brings Parliament back next week to try to legislate its changes.

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was on his feet in Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra today joining the backlash against the proposal.

A trial aimed at ensuring doctors and nurses have properly-fitted medical masks must be rolled out to all frontline healthcare workers to curb rising numbers of them being infected on the job.

The Australian Medical Association and other key medical groups are demanding that "fit testing" of face masks become mandatory for health workers after a state government analysis showed up to 80 per cent of the almost 2700 Victorian healthcare staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 caught it at work.

The analysis validated the concerns of medical groups that have long disputed government suggestions only 10 per cent to 15 per cent of COVID-19 cases among healthcare workers were acquired on the job.

The government is facing an intense backlash from the sector after it opted to run a single "fit testing" trial – which uses a machine to ensure mask are sealed to the face – for high-risk staff at Northern Health, rather than implementing the infection control practice across the state.