Clarence Valley’s most influential people in 2020: #4
They were on the frontline this year and ranked #4 in The Daily Examiner’s Power 30 countdown of the Most Influential People in the Clarence Valley in 2020.
Grafton
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#4. COVID-19 FRONTLINE WORKERS
JUST as Rural Fire Service volunteers were thrust onto the frontline of saving Australian lives in 2019, we put our faith and trust in our workers in the health, aged care and emergency services sectors as a pandemic sweeped the globe in 2020.
RELATED: Unsung heroes of the RFS at No.1 in Power 30
Few could have predicted the 12 months we have just experienced, and when many in the Clarence Valley lost their jobs overnight as lockdowns took hold, hundreds of others suddenly found themselves on the frontline in the fight against COVID-19.
Doctors, nurses, cleaners, social workers, supermarket cashiers, policemen and paramedics were among those who turned up to work every day in an eerie, alien environment to keep the community safe and the economy turning, all the while putting themselves at a greater risk of exposure to the virus.
From Northern NSW Local Health District personnel relaying concise, up-to-the-minute health advice and statistics to local media outlets, to police enforcing social distancing rules and aged care facilities limiting visitation, our frontline workers ensured we were able to successfully flatten the curve and minimise time spent in lockdowns with harsh restrictions imposed.
Perhaps the only factor that kept COVID-19 frontline workers in the Clarence Valley from the top spot in 2020 was fortunate circumstance. Fortunate to have leaders who first and foremost communicated the truth and built trust, and a favourable geography with wide open spaces and low population density.
The Clarence Valley was one of the safest places in the world in 2020 in terms of contracting coronavirus, with only eight total cases in the 2460, 2462, 2463, 2464, 2465 and 2466 postcodes, and zero deaths.
But importantly, our frontline workers were at the ready should the pandemic hit hard. The first dedicated COVID-19 respiratory clinic opened in Grafton on March 24, and another opened in Yamba in early May.
RELATED: Inside our hospital testing clinic
Testing rates have resurged in the past week as a cluster in Sydney's Northern Beaches puts the state on high alert, and as we head into the New Year once again entering uncertain times, we will rely on our frontline health workers as much as ever in 2021.
The Daily Examiner is counting down the 30 Most Influential People in the Clarence Valley in 2020. Find out who else is on the list so far!
No.12 - Clarence Correctional Centre
No.13 - John and Joanne Baker (Blaze Aid)
No.28 - Ray and Edwina Cameron (The Peach Farm)
No.30 - Ron Bell and Des Harvey
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