With three new cases confirmed, taking the total number of Victorian diagnosed with the illness to 18, Mr Andrews said that large-scale "local transmission" was only a matter of time. Loading Two of the three new cases are men who came off flights, one from the US, the other from Singapore. The third is a teacher at Kew’s Carey Baptist Grammar, who is a family member of a man who returned from the US on February 29, on the same flight as Toorak GP Chris Higgins. The female teacher was at an under-16s cricket final in Balwyn North on Sunday, March 8, between 10am and 4pm. She is recovering at home in isolation with mild symptoms. More than 30 students at Carey Baptist Grammar are now being tested for coronavirus and the school will remain closed until Sunday.

Authorities say one of the men was at South Melbourne Market on the morning of March 6 and later that day at the Albert Park Hotel, which remains closed, with staff who worked that day in self-isolation. The state government says it will be appealing to recently retired medical workers, doctors, nurses and paramedics to return to the workforce to help cope with a massive surge in demand at hospitals and clinics as the outbreak moves into the pandemic stages. The Premier warned of serious disruption to everyday life in Victoria in the coming weeks and months, although no decisions have been made on cancelling events or closing schools. Premier Daniel Andrews and Health Minister Jenny Mikakos inspect and ICU pod which might be used for coronavirus victims. Credit:AAP "We are told by the experts we are going to reach a phase where there will be such significant transmission between Victorians unrelated to overseas travel ... that we will need to take extreme measures," Mr Andrews said.

"We’ll need to ask Victorians to do things that we have never asked them to do before. "I think it’s appropriate to give people some warning of that." With the three new cases confirmed in the state, Mr Andrews said that large scale "community transmission" was only a matter of time. Mr Andrews urged Victorians to continue with commonsense measures including washing hands and staying home from work when sick. "They remain just as important today as they have all along and they will be even more important not if but when we reach the next phase of this virus."

But the Premier said capacity would also have to be preserved in the health system for crucial procedures such as life-saving surgeries and delivering babies. He said the government had been assured by major supermarket chains there would be sufficient supplies of household basics. The government released its COVID-19 health sector plan on Tuesday, which included the establishment of seven screening clinics. People line up outside the Royal Melbourne Hosital for coronavirus testing. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui "Part of that plan is the inevitability that we will get to the point where, rather than one school being closed, all our schools will be closed," Mr Andrews said.

"Rather than people simply distancing themselves and quarantining themselves we may have entire sectors, entire workforces, where people are working from home." The Premier said stopping the spread of the virus "will mean some very big events are cancelled". But Mr Andrews said the Grand Prix and coming football matches would not be cancelled and no schools other than Carey Baptist Grammar had yet been closed. The state government will add an extra 100 staff to the coronavirus hotline, after it crashed on Tuesday.

The pandemic plan includes four stages starting with initial containment then moving to targeted action, peak action and then recovery. It warns any pandemic is likely to be prolonged.