Illawarra's public health director Curtis Gregory has called for calm as many residents start to stockpile toiletries and food amid fears of a coronavirus outbreak locally.
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Demand for antibacterial handwashes and hand sanitiser products outstripped supplies at many pharmacies and supermarkets in central Wollongong on Tuesday, and major supermarket chains have confirmed that this is the case nationwide.
Stores are also struggling to keep shelves filled with other toiletries including toilet paper, and pantry staples such as pasta and rice, as residents prepare for the worst.
There's been 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in NSW since the outbreak began. Mr Gregory said while there'd been no confirmed cases within the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District to date, health authorities had a pandemic plan in place which could be "scaled up" if required.
While it wasn't necessary for people to stockpile food and toiletries, he said community members could reduce their risk of infection by taking sensible precautions.
He mirrored NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard's call for people to give friends and colleagues a "pat on the back rather than a hand shake" to reduce the risk of infection. Further, Mr Gregory said, people could take other "social distancing" measures.
"Firstly hand hygiene is key - and rather than running out and buying hand sanitiser our preference is for people to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and fresh water," he said.
"There's also the idea of social distancing to reduce the risk of becoming infected or infecting others - so considering other greetings rather than a hand shake or a kiss on the cheek.
"People may also think about putting a little bit of additional space of around one to one-and-a-half metres between themselves and others where possible.
"For instance they can be mindful of not placing themselves in situations where there's large groups of people, or in confined spaces like elevators, to keep that space around them."
Mr Gregory said local hospitals and health facilities had dealt with previous outbreaks - such as swine flu in 2009 - and were well prepared.
"We've done a lot of preparation since early February when we started seeing cases in China, and we're constantly reviewing the plan to see whether we need to scale it up," he said.
"We've identified areas where we may need additional staff and have run orientation sessions so if they need to be called in, they are trained and familiar with our facilities."
The district has also undertaken a stocktake of critical care equipment and identified where they can increase bed capacity if there's a surge in hospital admissions.
In addition facilities promote good hand hygiene among patients and staff, and provide face masks where appropriate.
Meantime, Mr Gregory said while the public health unit did not monitor supermarket shelves, they were liaising with pharmacies and GPs to ensure adequate supplies of certain medications.
Spokespeople for Coles and Woolworths confirmed that there was a shortage of some antibacterial handwashes and hand sanitiser products in their stores due to high customer demand. Other household staples were also in short supply.
"Coles has increased the number of deliveries to stores this week to improve availability on popular products, such as long-life pantry staples and healthcare items and our teams are working hard to fill the shelves as quickly as possible," the Coles spokesperson said.