Poor infection control at Sydney Airport could be spreading the novel coronavirus to thousands, according to two horrified doctors who recently returned to Australia from overseas.

Paediatric endocrinologist Dr Jacky Hewitt has called for urgent action after encountering a nurse touching “face after face” while using a tympanic thermometer to carry out screening at international arrivals on Saturday.

The nurse did not change gloves after touching each passenger’s face as she stabilised the thermometer on them, Dr Hewitt shared on social media.

“What I saw was someone potentially killing a large number of people.