Melbourne will suffer a shock shutdown of almost all shops and services for six weeks, with thousands of jobs to be lost.

Panic buyers lining up at supermarkets for meat and fish could actually be right as new restrictions mean production will be slashed by a third.

Melbourne is gripped by Stage 4 lockdown with an 8pm curfew, schools shut down, weddings banned, and citizens restricted to a 5km radius from their home.

Premier Daniel Andrews on Monday announced thousands more businesses would also have to shut down from Thursday as 429 more cases were diagnosed. 

Thirteen more Victorians also lost their lives overnight, bringing the state's total to 136 and Australia's to 221.

Shoppers queue into the distance outside a Costco in Melbourne to stock up ahead of Stage Four restrictions and a curfew on Sunday

'I never thought I'd find myself in a position where I'd have to ask people not to go to work,' Mr Andrews admitted.

'There is significant damage there needs to be done here, but to do that damage and fix the health problem and then be able to move then to rebuilding the economy.

'We know that that damage is not just in dollars, that damage will present in lots of different ways.'

Increased restrictions on what qualifies as an essential business or worker mean most shops and entire industries will have to shut down.

Businesses will be divided up into three categories - essential ones that operate as normal, ones that must slash shifts and output, and those that must close.

Department stores like Myer, David Jones, Target, Big W, and Kmart will all be forced to close - but can sell online an have customers pick up their orders.

Bunnings will be closed to everyone but tradies but as with retailers, other customers will be able to order online and pick up at the store.

The hardware store had begged to stay open to all customers, claiming home DIY and gardening were essential for many people's mental health during lockdown. 

Also on the shutdown list are shops selling furniture, homewares, electircal, recreational goods, clothing and shoes, florists, and antiques.

Sales of vehicles, new and used, and car parts will close but mechanics allowed to stay open to keep essential services on the road.

Pharmacies, post offices, banks, petrol stations, bottle shops, and a small list of other businesses will be spared.

Some shopping centres will stay open so customers can access supermarkets and other essential services but others will end up closing.

Cafes and restaurants will continue to provide takeaway services, but people will not be allowed to dine in.

The harsher lockdown has prompted thousands to flock to shops across Melbourne in a new round of panic buying.

Long lines and full trolleys were seen outside supermarkets as early as 7am - even though they would stay open under Stage 4. 

'Everything that is needed and there is no need for people to go and shop for things in bulk, that sense of panic is simply misplaced, we don't need to do that.

'Supermarkets as well as grocery stores, the local fruit and veg, the local butcher, the baker, all of those shops, they will remain open.

'I can't guarantee that every single product and exactly the volumes that you might like to buy will be there, that there will be enough for people to get what they need. Not necessarily what they want, but get what they need.' 

However, with meat stocks likely to be affected by the new restrictions, panic buyers snapping up meat to shove in their freezer could be on the money.

Abattoirs and fish markets will stay open but new the workplace rules will severely curtail their production, leading to potential shortages. 

They along with warehousing and distribution centres in Melbourne will be limited to no more than two-thirds the normal workforce allowed onsite at any one time. 

Stocks could run low at supermarkets, butchers, and even at fast food outlets that source their meat from within metropolitan Melbourne. 

'Whether every single item you might normally buy will be on the shelves, I can't guarantee,' Mr Andrews admitted. 

'Meat works, we know that meat works are a really significant challenge for us. Whether it be lamb, poultry or beef, they will move to two thirds production, reduce their production by one third,' Mr Andrews said.  

One of the biggest outbreaks in the first wave on infections was at the Cedar Meats abattoir, which likely weighed heavily in government decision making.

Woolworths on Sunday put two-item restrictions on more than 50 products as shoppers started to clean out shelves across Victoria yet again. 

Call centres were singled out after an outbreak among Centrelink phone workers last month, and the close quarters they often work in.  

Hairdressers will also be forced to close as will ordinary retail stores such as electrical and clothing.

On Monday, only a few clothing and video games shops remained open in Melbourne's CBD.

Construction will also be hit hard with as few as five workers allowed on site to keep building for the next six weeks.

Government infrastructure projects will have workers cut in half and any building three storeys or higher to just 25 per cent of normal.

House building will have to carry on with just five workers on site at a time. 

'Unless we have literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people at home and not going to work,' Mr Andrews said.

'Hundreds of thousands less movements around the community each and every day, then we will not pull this virus up.'

Tradies will also suffer along with builders as anything other than emergency repairs, such as broken gas heaters and plumbing, is banned.

'There'll be no cleaners going to your house. There'll be no-one mowing your lawns,' Mr Andrews said.

'There'll be no-one providing anything other other than emergency support. If you need a plumber because a pipe has burst, then yes, you can have a plumber come and do that work.

'But it's not the time to be painting your house or having unnecessary, non-urgent work happen.'

Even industries allowed to stay open with reduced capacity, like abattoirs, will look 'very different' with strict safety rules in place. 

'There will be some of the most stringent safety protocols that have ever been put in place in any industrial setting,' Mr Andrews said.

'Those workers will be essentially dressed as if they were a health worker. Gloves and gowns, masks and shields, they will be working in one workplace only.

'They will be temperature checked, a will be tested.' 

Businesses in regional Victoria can apply for a $5,000 grant and those in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire can apply for up to $10,000 in recognition of spending longer under restrictions. 

Mr Andrews warned even harsher restrictions - a Stage 5 - could come in if Stage 4 didn't end the crisis or Victorians didn't follow the rules.

'What is clear is that if we don't do this now, if this doesn't work, then we'll need a much longer list of complete shutdowns,' he said.

'It's hard to imagine what a Stage 5 might look like. But it would radically change the way people live.

'Not just rules on when and where you can go shopping – but restrictions on going shopping at all.'

Stage 4 began at 6pm on Sunday and will last until at least September 13 unless cases miraculously plummet before that date.

Regional Victoria will go back into Stage 3 lockdown from 11.59pm on Wednesday as the virus spreads beyond hardest-hit Melbourne.

Melbourne's curfew is in effect between 8pm and 5am every day, the only reasons to leave home during these hours will be work, medical care and caregiving.

Only one person in a household can go shopping per day and exercise is limited to one hour a day - both must be within 5km from home.

All recreational activity is banned and no more than two people can be together outside, even if they are from the same family or household.

'That means it's fresh air. It's a jog. It's a walk. It's in your local neighbourhood. It is staying close to home or in your home,' Mr Andrews said on Sunday.

He admitted the one-hour limit wouldn't be enforceable, but that police would be vigilant about the 5km as 'you are or you aren't' close enough. 

The premier said the extremely tight restrictions was necessary to prevent to the lockdown dragging on until Christmas.

'Six weeks versus a slower strategy. A much, much slower strategy that takes up to six months,' he said.

Partners who don't live together will still be able to visit each other, even if they live more than 5km apart.

Weddings are completely banned and though funerals can go ahead, only 10 people can travel from Melbourne to regional Victoria to attend one.

Melbourne school students - about a million children - will have to learn remotely unless their parents are essential workers, or they are vulnerable children who need to learn face-to-face.

They will go to school on Monday, have a pupil free day on Tuesday, and be learning at home from Wednesday.

The General Achievement Test for year 12 students will be moved from the end of term three to the start of term four.

The VCE exam dates will not change, finishing by December 2 as planned and ATAR results handed out by the end of the year.

Kindy and pre-primary students will go home from Thursday, and childcare centres will be closed for children whose parents aren't essential workers.

Mr Andrews warned that police would no longer issue cautions or show leniency, they will just fine people $1,652 or drag them before courts.

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