As the number of confirmed cases in Australia hit 140 on Thursday and,health authorities were planning for a potential surge of hospital admissions.
Simon Judkins,a past president of the Australian College of Emergency Medicine,said if the number of infections increased rapidly,there might not be enough intensive care beds to go around - meaning older,sicker patients could be denied emergency treatment.
"The reason we try to put in mitigation strategies and slow the spread of the disease down is to avoid that,to flatten the spike and spread the sick people out so that it's less likely they won't be able to cope,"Dr Judkins toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age.
"But if there is a surge,it's a very tough situation. Like any triage situation,you triage according to who is the most likely person to benefit from the intervention - the person who is most likely to survive."
Depending on what stage the outbreak had reached in Australia,he said,"someone you might intubate and put on a ventilator at the start of the outbreak,you might be in a different situation in two weeks'time".
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The Morrison government is seeking to boost the number of ventilators in hospitals as well as stockpiling key medicines such as antibiotics and antivirals.
It is a situation that is already playing out in Italy,where.
"We know the survival rate of younger people is higher,"Dr Judkins said."If we get somebody in otherwise good health and they get pneumonia,they are more likely to survive."
Newcastle University epidemiologist Craig Dalton,whose research inspired the Trump administration's advice to citizens on how to minimise transmission,
Australian GPs will begin offering for people at risk of coronavirus who are self isolating,along with vulnerable patients such as pregnant women,the elderly and the immuno-compromised,on Friday.
Patients will be able to access the consultation over the phone,Skype or WhatsApp as part of the federal government's coronavirus response.
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Harry Nespolon said doctors were still waiting for fast-tracked coronavirus testing to ensure could return to work.
"GPs are worried,they don't want to be infecting people,"Dr Nespolon said.
The federal health department is working with independent primary healthcare organisations on the details of where it will set up as part of the government's $2.4 billion coronavirus plan.