EXTRA ventilators are on a list of items being urgently sought for Albury hospital's intensive care unit.
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Albury Wodonga Health pandemic chief Sally Squire said on Monday that the service had requested various pieces of equipment to help address a potential influx of COVID-19 patients.
"We're working with the Department of Health and Human Services who have a capital equipment plan that has a number of ventilators, pumps, monitors - all the types of equipment that we need to expand our ICU capacity," Mrs Squire said.
"So we're working very closely with them.
"We also have a very clear inventory around all the equipment that we have here and looking at spaces and options around expanding our ICU as we require."
Mrs Squire could not say exactly when she expected to have a response from the department, other than saying "very shortly".
The Albury hospital intensive care unit has six beds.
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Albury Wodonga Health declined to answer The Border Mail's question about how many ventilators it has now.
However, Mrs Squire rejected the notion that more than one patient would be attached to a single ventilator.
"I have seen things on Facebook or other social media sites around the ability to put mechanisms in place for multiple patients from one ventilator," she said.
"At this stage 'one patient, one ventilator', that's our practice here at Albury Wodonga Health."
The service has also been inundated with several dozen job applications from nurses and midwives responding to an appeal for staff at the Albury and Wodonga hospitals.
It is unclear when new recruits will be added to the rosters.
Ms Squire again encouraged the community to adhere to social distancing and hygiene measures.
"This is not the time to think 'aw things are getting better', this is actually the time to bunker down and really abide by those really strict and important guidelines that the government is sending out to us now," she said.
"Only restrict your travel to the bare essentials that you need around your groceries or your pharmacy needs."
Ms Squire said the one patient with COVID-19 that had been admitted to hospital in the Twin Cities was in a stable condition and "improving every day".