If a person was to test positive for COVID, they will receive a phone call from the Public Health Unit.

EGHS has the facilities to "stabilise and support" positive patients until, or if, there is a need for them to be transferred.

EGHS acting chief executive Peter Armstrong said as soon as the organisation is aware of a positive case through Grampians Region Public Health Unit staff immediate jump into action.

"We support positive cases in their home and up to two, to three, times a day we are in contact (for the current positive case)," he said.

"Ararat Rural City are providing support to people as well.

"We work closely with them as well."

He said any positive cases would most likely be transferred away from EGHS if patients needed hospitalisation as Ararat does not have the room to care for positive COVID-19 patients.

"The short answer is probably none (number of COVID-19 cases Ararat can treat), we are certainly trying to look at people without COVID-19 to remain home and then we will get to the point where elders don't need to be in hospital," he said.

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"Like most small rural health services we have one acute ward. If we have patients in there that are COVID positive we won't be doing anything else further within the community.

"Plans are in place, and have been in place, with bigger health services such as metropolitan health services where positive cases requiring hospitalisation will most likely be transferred to a more appropriate area, where there is an intensive care unit with access to ventilators, and specialist services we don't have here."

Acting director of clinical services Bec Peters said the level of care given if someone was to test positive for COVID would vary and change, depending on the circumstances.

"The public health unit are in close contact with us all the time anyway, but they will get in touch and they will come under our care that way," she said.

"We will provide the level of care that those people or person will need and obviously come onto our books.

"After that initial phone call and assessment the frequency of the contact will be determined from there depending on what they need, we will stay with anyone for the entirety of the illness if we need to."

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