It has been a difficult 24 hours for the state, with 17 deaths and nearly 14,000 extra cases detected.

There were 13,973 cases of COVID-19 overnight, up from 12,722 on Tuesday.

Today, there are 67,608 active cases across the state, with 1610 of them in Greater Bendigo.

Central Goldfields had 68 new cases which was more than twice as much as it had on Tuesday.

There were eight new cases in Loddon, Campaspe had 61, Buloke had 17, Gannawarra had 18, Macedon Ranges had 163 and Mt Alexander Shire had 68.

There are 533 Victorians in hospital with the virus, with 33 people in ICU, down from 34 yesterday. There are five people on ventilators.

Batteries believed to be source of garbage truck fire

THE CFA has brought a garbage truck fire in Castlemaine this morning under control.

A spokesperson confirmed the garbage truck had a hot load of recycling when it caught fire just after 8am on Forest Street.

"Firefighters confirmed there was a small fire in the rubbish which had been unloaded by the garbage truck," the spokesperson said.

"Firefighters extinguished the main part of the fire around 8.30am and were checking for any remaining hot spots."

The cause of the blaze is believed to be lithium batteries in the waste.

Three tankers responded to the scene and local council was notified to attend as well.

No chance of meatballs but it is cloudy

Welcome to Wednesday, congratulations you're half way to the weekend!

Here is the weather forecast for central Victoria ahead of west is making headlines in the region.

Bendigo will reach 17 degrees through the day before possible showers in the evening.

Castlemaine is expecting a cloudy day with a top of 17 while Maryborough will also be cloud while reaching 18 degrees.

Further south, Kyneton should get to a top of 17 with cloud coverage expected.

Up to the Murray River, Echuca will see late showers after a top of 19.

More to come.

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