Cobar's only aged care facility has been put into lockdown after half the residents, and all but one nurse tested positive for COVID-19.
Seventeen of 33 residents at the Lilliane Brady Village in far western New South Wales were confirmed to have the virus, with one resident hospitalised on Monday morning.
Eight staff members at the council-run facility have also tested positive and were placed into immediate isolation, leaving just one registered nurse on site.
Cobar Shire Council acting general manager Kym Miller has called for any available casual nursing staff to help fill gaps in care.
"Our [remaining registered nurse] has been putting in incredible hours, but she's going to hit a brick wall," Mr Miller said.
"There is capacity to absorb casual nursing staff, and we're offering attracting incentives to make that work."
It is unclear how the virus entered the aged care facility, but cases escalated quickly from the first positive case on Thursday before they stabilised on the weekend.
As of Monday morning, no new cases were detected.
Mr Miller said the community's remoteness was an added challenge to recruiting staff.
In fact, vacancies for permanent and contract staff exist across the Western Local Health District.
"There's such a shortage of nursing staff in country [areas]," Mr Miller said.
"If we were in Sydney, I'm sure they could find a couple of nurses out of their pool, but to mobilise staff and get them to Cobar quickly is very, very difficult."
It is hoped that the first of the affected staff will be able to return to work from Thursday, while additional staff from the Federal Public Health Unit are unavailable until next week.
In a statement, a Western News South Wales Local Health District spokesperson said they would provide clinical staff support where possible, as well as technical guidance on control strategies to mitigate further spread.
"However, it is the Commonwealth Department of Health's responsibility to ensure the ongoing delivery of safe and quality care in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak at a residential aged-care facility."
