* Victoria recorded 303 new coronavirus cases and 4 more deaths on Saturday.
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* The fatalities - a female in her 80s, two males in their 80s and a female in her 90s - take the state's toll to 293 and the nation's to 379.
* Two of the four were aged care residents.
* Victoria's case numbers are gradually decreasing, with the seven-day average down to 344 from 521 a week ago.
* Chief health officer Brett Sutton said Victorians should be filled with hope that restrictions are making a dint on daily cases totals but reinforced there was no room for complacency.
* There are 3383 Victorian cases with an unknown source, up from 206 since Friday compared to 51, 107, 58 in recent days.
* There is growing support for federal-level scrutiny of the Ruby Princess cruise ship debacle which let loose multiple cases in the community.
* Prime Minister Scott Morrison says a special commission of inquiry report exonerates his government of any role in the blunder but Labor leader Anthony Albanese disagrees with the assessment.
* The inquiry has revealed the Ruby Princess outbreak infected 663 Australians on board and 191 crew, and led to 28 deaths, including 20 domestically and eight in the United States.
* NSW recorded another nine virus cases on Saturday, including two staff at Chopstix Asian Cuisine at Smithsfield RSL in Sydney's southwest.
* Western Australia recorded one new case - a returned traveller in hotel quarantine.
* Four men have been caught trying to dodge Queensland's border restrictions by sailing a houseboat from NSW to Cairns.
* Police conducted 3994 spot checks on people at homes, businesses and public places across Victoria in the 24 hours to Saturday morning and fined 223 people.
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ECONOMY
* Labor fears more than 130,000 retail workers could be sacked if the JobSeeker dole payment returns to its pre-coronavirus rate of $40 a day.
* Social services spokeswoman Linda Burney says unemployed Australians are spending $327 million of their JobSeeker supplements every fortnight.
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SPORT
Australia's national cricket side will embark on their COVID-19 comeback in England on August 23, having been given the green light for a limited-overs tour.
The Victorian government will fight for an extra year to be added to its grand final agreement with the AFL if stripped of hosting rights this season due to COVID-19.
Brisbane Roar forward Scott McDonald is being investigated for a potential breach of A-League's COVID-19 protocols.
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KEY DATES
* August 2 to September 13 - stage four lockdown for Melbourne, including a nightly curfew, and stage three lockdown for regional Victoria.
* August 29 - The last remaining restrictions on gatherings to be removed in WA.
* August 31 - Tasmania's borders will remain shut until at least the end of the month.
* September 11 - NSW government to waive the hotel quarantine fee for NSW residents returning from Victoria.
* November - Victoria's hotel quarantine inquiry report due.
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AUSTRALIAN CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* There were 313 new cases in Australia - 303 in Victoria, nine in NSW, one in WA. There were 4 more deaths in Victoria.
* The national death toll as of Saturday is 379: Victoria 293, NSW 53, Tasmania 13, WA 9, Queensland 6, SA 4, ACT 3. (Two Queensland residents who died in NSW have been included in the official tolls of both states).
GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS
* Cases: at least 21,160,000
* Deaths: at least 764,700
* Recovered: at least 13,280,000
Data current as of 1800 AEST August 14, taking in federal government and state/territory government updates, Worldometer and Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre.
Australian Associated Press
