Canberra, Oct 15 (IANS): Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt has issued a renewed call for Covid-19 restrictions to be eased in the state of Victoria.

As of Thursday afternoon there had been 27,362 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Australia, with 23 new cases detected in the last 24 hours, according to the latest data from the federal health ministry.

Victoria, the hardest-hit state by the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, reported six new cases on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, confirmed another 11 cases, five of which were recently returned travellers in hotel quarantine and two of which have remained under investigation.

The national death toll remained unchanged at 904.

Hunt said on Wednesday that Victoria had recorded an average of fewer than the threshold of 10 new Covid-19 cases for re-opening.

"We have a Commonwealth definition in terms of hotspots, and that's a rolling average of less than 10 cases. Victoria is below that rolling average," Hunt told reporters in Canberra.

"Victoria has reached the Commonwealth standard to go to the next stage," he said.