In scenes reminiscent of band The Specials' video for song Ghost Town, only a smattering of people could be seen on day one and two in many streets.

Takeaway stores and a handful of other shops were among the few businesses able to operate amid some of the strictest social distancing restrictions seen so far during the pandemic.

Some people escaped their homes and went for walks, others dropped by florists for last minute Valentine's day gifts. A few crows wandered around Hargreaves Mall.

But it was a far cry from what many traders had expected over the normally busy Valentine's Day weekend.

In Melbourne, Authorities ramped up testing and contact tracing to head off the risk of a widespread outbreak of the highly contagious UK coronavirus strain.

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said he was still confident the lockdown would last just five days.

"But we will have a greater number of results back and we will have almost all, if not all of those primary close contacts through but it does depend on whether new cases emerge or any other surprises that might occur," he said.

Authorities hoped to have a clearer picture of how widespread the outbreak as testing results filtered through over Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

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