Naracoorte GP Clare Garner says the local health system could handle a "trickle" but not a "flood" of COVID-19 patients and has pleaded with the community to practice social distancing and stay home if they can.
A Facebook post Dr Garner made last week, urging people to follow guidelines, has been shared nearly 1000 times.
In it she highlighted the possible reality of the pandemic for Naracoorte's 20-bed hospital, which services about 6000 people and already runs at a two-thirds occupancy rate or higher.
"During pandemics such as this what we know is 40 to 70 per cent of the population could become infected without control measures and what we know is of those infected one in five might need a hospital bed and one in 20 who have the virus may need critical care," she said.
"We have no (intensive care unit) in Naracoorte so those critical patients would need to be transferred out to Adelaide and that depends on there being access to a plane and a bed in Adelaide."
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She was surprised how her Facebook post resonated with so many people but says education is the key.
"At the time I thought some people were feeling the physical distance from the city provides some protection but that is not the case anywhere in country SA," she said.
"I was hoping to emphasise the importance of early social distancing and hand washing in slowing the rate of infections.
"It will get here (Naracoorte) at some stage but hopefully it comes over a longer period of time and hopefully we can slow the rate of infections, to allow our patients to access the best medical care possible."
Dr Garner says COVID-19 is the biggest challenge she has faced in her medical career and more contagious than influenza.
She also knows that she does not want to be in a position like doctors in the United States, Italy and Spain where due to the huge number of cases they are being forced to prioritise patient care.
"We are already seeing some improvements in the rates slowing (here in SA) but it is important that we don't become complacent and everyone really follows the latest recommendations or the consequences could be dire," she said.
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