The spread of coronavirus among four emergency department healthcare workers at a Melbourne hospital has fuelled fears more medical staff on the frontline could contract the virus.

Mercy Health confirmed on Wednesday that one of the emergency department staff members at Mercy Hospital in Werribee tested positive to the virus on Sunday.

Other staff members considered to be at risk were also tested and three others were found to be positive for coronavirus. The Age and Sydney Morning Herald understand three of the staff members who tested positive to the deadly virus are doctors.

Four frontline healthcare workers at Mercy Hospital’s emergency department in Werribee have tested positive to COVID-19. Credit:Damian Shaw

The news has prompted the president of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine, Dr John Bonning, to declare that stopping infection spreading among frontline medical staff was just as critical as increasing intensive care capacity in hospitals for the onslaught of critically ill patients.