Pharmacists are being told to dispense only one month’s worth of prescription medication and limit the purchase of some over-the-counter products starting from today.

The deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said that there are no medicine shortages in Australia, but unprecedented demand is putting a strain on supplies.

"There have been reports of people buying large quantities of these medications over the last few days," Dr Kelly said to The ABC.

"I recognise again that people are fearful about issues, particularly those that might affect their own families.

"But I say again, as the Prime Minister said yesterday about panic buying, please do not buy more than you need."

Pharmacists are required to put some medicines, including children’s paracetamol, behind the counter in order to tackle panic-buying.

Dr Kelly called for calm in pharmacies as Australians respond to coronavirus.

"It is not OK to be abusing people who are teaching our kids. It is not OK to be abusing people and being angry at people at Woolworths and Coles," he said.

"It is not OK to be angry at people trying to do their best in healthcare.

"This is a time for us to be working together and to be the best people we can in Australia."

Calm is needed now more than ever as the Reserve Bank has just cut interest rates to a new record low of 0.25 per cent and has announced a money-printing program for the first time in its history.

This is being done to prevent a recession as panicked investors continue wiping billions of dollars in value off the local stock market.

In a statement, RBA governor Philip Lowe said that coronavirus was having a “very major impact on the economy and the financial system”.

“The coronavirus is first and foremost a public health issue, but it is also having a very major impact on the economy and the financial system. As the virus has spread, countries have restricted the movement of people across borders and have implemented social distancing measures, including restricting movements within countries and within cities. The result has been major disruptions to economic activity across the world. This is likely to remain the case for some time yet as efforts continue to contain the virus,” he said in a statement this afternoon.

"As the virus has spread, countries have restricted the movement of people across borders and have implemented social distancing measures, including restricting movements within countries and within cities.

"The result has been major disruptions to economic activity across the world. This is likely to remain the case for some time yet as efforts continue to contain the virus."

Mr Lowe said that the board would not lift the cash rates until progress was being made “towards full employment” and when the RBA was confident inflation would be “sustainably within the 2 to 3 per cen target band”.