Victorian chief health officer Brett Sutton said the origin of the case had not been determined.

"It's a big household. Others are symptomatic and being tested so there may be more," he said.

One of the positives is a second staff member (both security guards) from Rydges on Swanston - the hotel that takes positive returned travellers.

Another three were overseas travellers.

The number of community transmitted cases has also dropped by 18 after links were found.

There are 61 active cases in Victoria, eight people in hospital and three patients in intensive care.

At 10.35am: Reserve Bank boss Philip Lowe says the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic may not be as severe as first feared.

Dr Lowe has told a senate inquiry on Thursday morning that Australia's recovery largely depended on when the public regained its confidence.

"With the national health outcomes better than earlier feared, it's entirely possible the economic downturn will not be severe as earlier thought," he was reported as saying.

At 10.30am: Queensland health officials have tested 20 contacts of a Queensland man who died of coronavirus.

Eighteen have returned negative results while two swabs will be tested on Thursday.

Authorities are scrambling to find out if there is community transmission in the coal mining town of Blackwater.

There were a total of 31 Blackwater residents who tested negative on Wednesday, with 95 more to be tested today, according to Health Minister Steven Miles.

At 8.55am: Queensland health officials are urging residents of a mining town to get tested after a 30-year-old man became the youngest in Australia to die with coronavirus.

Blackwater's 5000 residents are on alert after Nathan Turner was found dead at his home on Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities are scrambling to work out how the former miner became infected given he hadn't left the town since February.

State Health Minister Stephen Miles has not ruled out a link between Mr Turner and a Rockhampton aged care nurse, who went on a 400km round trip to Blackwater to watch the sun set.

She before testing positive for coronavirus earlier in May and had been linked to the lockdown of a Rockhampton aged care centre after she continued to go to work while sick and waiting for a coronavirus test result.

The nurse will be asked further questions about her trip today.

"It's possible that there is some kind of connection there, or it could just be a coincidence. That's what our investigators are working on," Mr Miles told radio this morning.

"Those dates don't really line up with when he got sick. It is a bit of a mystery and it could just be a coincidence."

Mr Miles said Blackwater residents weren't previously told of the nurse's visit because it was deemed low risk.

At 8.30am: The coronavirus has killed more than 100,000 people in the United States while the slowdown in fatalities has led to businesses being encouraged to reopen after more than two months of lockdowns.

About 1400 Americans have died on average each day in May, down from a peak of 2000 in April, according to the tally of state and county data.

In three months, more Americans have died from the virus than during the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Iraq conflicts from 2003-2011 combined.

The last time the flu killed as many people in the United States was in the 1957-1958 season, when 116,000 died.

Total US coronavirus cases are over 1.7 million with some southern states seeing new cases rising in the past week.

Earlier: A replacement crew could be flown to Western Australia to sail a coronavirus livestock ship back to the Middle East.

Sending the sheep to local abattoirs will be considered a last resort after the ship Al Kuwait docked in Fremantle on Friday.

Six crew members tested positive for coronavirus while 56,000 sheep that have gone through quarantine are now being held in feedlots.

Federal Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the ship would not be able to return to the Middle East before the June 1 northern summer live export deadline.

That ban was implemented last year after the Awassi Express mass sheep death scandal.

He said his own department may grant an exemption.

"As far as I know, they're ready to sail," Mr Littleproud said yesterday.

"That can only happen after two things, firstly, there's a deep clean of the boat, and crew are healthy enough to do that."

That could take weeks if the cruise ship Artania was a benchmark.

The cruise ship brought more than 80 COVID-19 cases to WA, with four people dying. It was docked at Fremantle for more than three weeks.

WA Premier Mark McGowan wants the Al Kuwait to leave as soon as possible.

"That may include flying in a new crew, subject to strict quarantine, cleaning the ship and getting it under way as soon as possible," he aid.

The premier said a local hospital was on standby to treat any of the crew, including 27 who are being isolated in a hotel as a precaution.

- With AAP

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