"Particularly leading up to more media about the coronavirus, we have had presentations from patients who show symptoms, or who have travelled recently coming into our emergency department," he said.

"We take every precaution, every time there is a presentation.

"It will become more common to see that sort of event, where we do see people with masks and hazmat suits on."

Mr Abraham said the health service had a "couple of suspected cases" present on Tuesday, though only the one patient was transferred

"They are obviously not yet tested for the coronavirus, but we have to take every reasonable step we can take, and that includes suiting up in masks, protective eye wear and gowns," he said.

"Part of our pandemic planning for coronavirus is we have to treat any suspected case as a positive case, even though they haven't been tested."

Mr Abraham said there was currently just one testing laboratory on Melbourne, but the state was working to develop more testing capabilities.

"Our role is to do the nasal swab and send them off to the laboratory," he said.

"We will also ask patients to self-isolate."

While Mr Abraham said the number of people presenting was on the rise, he added it was also the beginning of the flu season.

"Not every person who comes in has coronavirus, but anyone who presents and says 'I have travelled and I may have it', we have to take precautions for," he said.

He said the hospital was working with its neighbouring health services to ensure all are involved in planning and have appropriate measures in place to respond to potential cases.

With services and clinics across the state reporting shortages of protective gear, Mr Abraham said SHDH had completed a stock take of its own supplies and was not facing a shortage "at the moment".

"State-wide, there are other stockpiles in the state that can be accessed if we need," he said.

"Our big concern right now is maintaining protective masks and gear for our dental service....they use a number of masks and we are monitoring supplies to ensure we can continue to provide the service ongoing."

Mr Abraham said the decision to restrict the access points to the hospital were two-fold.

"It's not restricting access to anyone into the hospital, it is closing down the side doors and the rear doors to public access," he said.

"First, there is a security concern, where anyone can access the health service and us not know they are there, and the other is around coronavirus and the flu season.

"Having people walking straight in from a side door, into our ward where we have compromised patients...if the are showing signs or symptoms and are going in without us seeing, it is a risk."

If someone were to test positive for the virus, Mr Abraham said the hospital does have a plan in place.

"Our best care path is for someone to self-isolate at home, if they are well-enough," he said.

"If they are unwell and require hospital care, we are currently setting up four isolation rooms in the health service, in the hospital that allows people to be cared for in isolation.

"If they are extremely unwell and require ventilation services and intensive care, they will need to be transferred to a metropolitan or bigger health service, under the usual precautions we would take, as we would do for anyone else."

While this information can be alarming, Mr Abraham urged the community to remain calm.

"I think it is important that the community not be too alarmed about this," he said.

"We do have processes in place to care for patients if they become unwell.

"What's important for us is we really do need to protect our staff -- our staff are a precious commodity, in the media they're talking about sending nurses and doctors in to help, well, we have as many on the ground as we can have.

"Our staff are extremely competent, they understand the drill, the process that needs to be taken and we have taken all the measures we can possibly take."