Health ministers from across Australia met in Melbourne on Friday where they discussed the growing likelihood there would be more coronavirus cases.
At the health council meeting,the state and territory health ministers were also expected to demand extra federal funding to help public hospitals activate their pandemic plans.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos said the risk to children appeared to be low but she would not rule out measures such as closing schools if necessary.
She said the state and federal governments had discussed the possibility of asking Victorian businesses to step up production of masks.
“We might be able to look at a local company here that might be able to scale up production of face masks,” she said.
One Melbourne business in Braeside has already quadrupled its production of hand sanitiser as fears grow about infections in Australia.
Ms Mikakos said an outbreak could result in elective surgeries being cancelled or moved to private hospitals. Dedicated respiratory clinics may be set up in emergency departments if there were more coronavirus cases.