COVID-19 has now been declared a state of emergency in Victoria as more events are cancelled and powers to enforce 14-day isolation for all travellers entering Australia are enforced.
At time of print yesterday, 94 cases of coronavirus had been confirmed in Victoria, while the national total had risen to 375.
While the current pandemic grows, Swan Hill District Health (SHDH) chief executive officer Peter Abraham continued to urge the community to remain calm.
"To my knowledge, no suspected cases have been confirmed in Swan Hill," Mr Abraham told The Guardian on Monday afternoon.
"We continue to provide a service where we take nasal swabs, we assess and provide the appropriate treatment to anyone who presents with signs and symptoms and meets the indicated criteria for coronavirus.
"The community need to be reassured that we have appropriate skilled, confident staff that provide services and respond to anyone who has a concern about whether they have coronavirus or not."
In order to be tested for coronavirus, patients must now meet a "clinical and epidemiological criteria" due to a significant statewide shortage of swabs and reagent kits.
"We have a lot of patients coming through asking for a coronavirus test," Mr Abraham said.
"However, only a small percentage get tested because they don't meet the indications for testing."
The current indications for testing include a fever or acute respiratory infection and international travel in 14 days before onset of illness, or close contact in the 14 days before illness onset with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Patients who are healthcare workers and have had direct contact with a patient who has a fever and an acute respiratory infection (shortness of breath, cough, sore throat) and patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia with no other identified cause also meet current criteria.
Mr Abraham said while the hospital is facing challenges around sourcing supplies, the biggest challenge was ensuring staffing levels are maintained to provide the "right level of service".
"The hospital is coping. We've got our challenges, at the moment we've got at least 10 staff members who are self-isolating for the right reasons," he said.
"There is potential for that to grow, especially if schools go out. If school or the school buses stop, we are concerned because we need to maintain the services at the highest level we can for 24 hours per day.
"Informing the community about what to do is also really important. We have signs now placed out from of the hospital entry to help the community decide what to do/who to call."
Mr Abraham said admissions into the hospital had not increased as no coronavirus cases had been confirmed, but other people have been admitted with "flu-like symptoms".
"We are on the verge of a brand new flu season," he said.
"Flu is the unsung pandemic of the world and has been for sometime.
"Flu affects a lot more people than coronavirus and has significant outcomes particularly in the frail and chronic disease, so I think we will start to see a natural increase in admissions but mostly related to flu."
