South West Healthcare (SWH) chief executive officer Craig Fraser said a local man had tested positive at the Respiratory Assessment Clinic (RAC) late Friday.

The man had recently returned from overseas and, feeling unwell, self-isolated before contacting SWH by phone.

Mr Fraser commended the man's actions and said he did a great job of limiting his contact with other people.

"He was phone-triaged by a South West Healthcare nurse who assessed that he met the strict criteria for attending our respiratory assessment clinic," he said. Mr Fraser said people in the south-west were doing a good job limiting contact, not gathering in groups, hand washing and hand hygiene and supporting each other.

"This has placed us in a strong position to limit the spread of Coronavirus throughout our local communities but we must be conscious of doing this more often and better," he said.

He said SWH was well prepared and would respond when people presented but the community's support by doing the right thing was extremely important in limiting the spread. The RAC service will operate 8am till 8pm seven days a week for phone contact with appointments booked for those who meet the selection criteria.

On Saturday Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced a $1.7 billion economic survival and jobs package including full payroll tax refunds to small and medium-sized businesses for the 2019-20 financial year.

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