Oodgeroo MP claims Redland Hospital underprepared for coronavirus. Qld Health says hospital is ready for all scenarios

Mr Robinson called on the state government to urgently fund an intensive care unit for the hospital, saying health professionals were scrambling to deal with the crisis without the required resources.

"It's unacceptable that Redlands Coast residents testing positive to COVID-19 have to travel to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for treatment," he said.

"Sadly one Redlands Coast resident has already tested positive and has been moved to the PA."

A Queensland Health spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether coronavirus patients could be treated at Redland Hospital but said Metro South Health was well-prepared for all scenarios.

"Fever clinics are just one example of this. These clinics help clinicians separate suspected cases of COVID-19 from the general waiting room of the Emergency Departments," the spokesperson said.

"Patients who are confirmed as having COVID-19 are managed by the Hospital and Health Services."

Queensland Health asked patients to visit the Emergency Department at the hospital in the first instance.

Testing was being undertaken at Redland Hospital following state guidelines.

Only people who had fever or respiratory symptoms who had been overseas or had close contact with a confirmed coronavirus case in the last two weeks, as well as people with severe community-acquired pneumonia with no other identifiable cause, would be tested.

Mr Robinson said the situation was going to get worse before it got better.

"People are clearly worried about the virus because shelves normally stocked with hand sanitiser, toilet paper and paper towel were all empty again at Coles in Cleveland this morning," he said.

But Queensland Health said residents should be aware but not alarmed.

"(Our teams) have responded well to health emergencies in the past and will do so again.

"We understand members of the community might feel concerned about the recent confirmed cases of COVID-19 in their area.

"The people most at risk of having COVID-19 are those who have been to affected countries in the past 14 days, or where they have come into close contact with someone diagnosed with the virus."

According to Queensland Health, the time between a positive test result of COVID-19 and the public being notified of a confirmed case can take between 12 and 48 hours.

This allowed time to ensure a patient returned a true positive result before asking them or their close contacts to isolate.

This could mean testing them more than once.

Queensland Health would then undertake contract tracing.

A close contact did not mean people the person may have passed on the street or in a shop, as the risk in these situations is extremely low.

Only those who have had face-to-face contact with a confirmed case for more than 15 minutes or those who have shared an enclosed space with a confirmed case for more than two hours are considered a close contact.