"If I have a bed for you." Why thousands of Australians are sharing an intensive care specialist's message.

Adam Visser an intensive care specialist in the small Queensland city of Toowoomba.

He, like all of our country’s health workers, are working around the clock keeping Australians and Australia safe from the rising spread of COVID-19.

Over the last few weeks, the Director of Critical Care has been left impressed and proud by his colleagues’ preparations for coronavirus, should it infiltrate their community on a mass scale.

WATCH: Mamamia’s The Quicky host Claire Murphy breaks down your most asked questions about COVID-19. Post continues below. 

They know it’s coming.

They’re preparing for it to be really bad.

“If it’s really bad we will just cope. We can’t prepare for the worst, because it will be overwhelming, and if it happens it will be terrifying. I’ve seen the plans,” Visser wrote on Facebook on Friday.

What he’s not impressed by is those in the community downplaying COVID-19 as “just the flu”.

Read more: “Would love to make it to 21.” The people we need to protect from the spread of COVID-19.

On Saturday, Visser posted an important reminder as to why even the healthiest among us will be affected if coronavirus cases start to spread at the rate it is in places like Italy and Iran.

Here is what he wrote in a post that’s since been shared 74,000 times:

“Coronavirus isn’t just like the flu, but it’s only really very dangerous to the elderly or the already unwell. Quite a lot of people in their 80s will die, but most of the rest of us will probably be okay.

“If you’re in your 70s and you get Coronavirus, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

“If you’re in your 60s and you have a heart attack, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

“If you’re in your 50s and need bowel cancer surgery, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

“If you’re in your 40s and have a bad car accident, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

“If you’re in your 30s and have terrible pre-eclampsia as a complication of pregnancy, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

“If you’re in your 20s and have a bad reaction to a party drug, you’ve got a really good chance of survival. If I’ve got a bed for you.

“I have 7 beds equipped with life support machines. We have a plan to increase to about 25. Getting more isn’t a matter or more equipment or more money, that bit is easy. There are not enough skilled staff, even if we all work double shifts every day for six months (and we probably will).

“If 50% of my city gets infected, that’s 75,000 people. If 5% of them need life support (which is the estimate), that’s 3750 people. For 25 beds.

“And then I might not have a bed for you.

“So it’s up to you to flatten the curve. Wash your hands. Stay home.

“ScoMo #lockusdown.”

Adam’s message has gathered more than 4000 comments, with many thanking him for cutting through the mixed messaging with “crystal clear” points.

“Society can stop this going from bad to worst,” he wrote in a separate post.

“Don’t go to large events, or even medium events. Stay home if you’re sick, even just a little – you’re already infectious. Stay completely away from your elderly or chronically unwell friends and relatives unless truly necessary to help them out, and if it is then keep your distance and wash your hands,” he added. 

Feature Image: Facebook/Adam Visser.