The Informer: Regional Australia, your COVID-19 questions will be answered

From the worst day yet of COVID-19 stats in NSW, to an extended lockdown in the ACT, an extended lockdown and a curfew in Melbourne plus a snap shutdown in the Top End, it's been rotten.

And if you have somehow managed to avoid seeing the heartbreaking scenes of Afghanis trying to scramble aboard planes leaving their country, don't turn on the nightly news. Take it as genuine news that the Taliban has declared the war in Afghanistan is over after insurgents took control of the presidential palace in Kabul.

So rather than thoroughly depressing everyone even further, was there any goodness to share? Well, of course, look hard enough and you'll find it. But instead of kicking rocks trying to turn up gold, how about a quick behind-the-scenes at something that turned into a win today - a win for us - and a win for you.

Anita Beaumont, the health reporter at the Newcastle Herald, set the scene perfectly late last week.

"Like so many people in our community, our reporters are glued to the press conference that stops the nation at precisely 11am each day. We watch, we wait, and we write; our ears pricked for any mention of the Hunter and anything that may affect our community," she wrote.

Because the daily press conferences are in Sydney, the reporters there take charge and information relating to regional communities is invariably in short supply.

"Our emails, phone calls and even text messages to the large media teams behind the Premier, the Deputy Premier, the Health Minister and the health department are largely ignored. But we persist."

And when Ms Beaumont says "we persist", it is a small army of regional reporters that push on - those of us from Australian Community Media, the regional teams of the ABC as well as regional TV and radio networks, too.

Today that changed. It could well have been down to criticism the NSW Premier received for not bothering with a press conference on Saturday when the entire state was locked down: " ... most of the state was locked down anyway," Ms Berejiklian said. "It was just a few regional and rural communities."

Ouch. Anyway today, as the Northern Daily Leader's acting editor Madeline Link said: "It was nice to see the voices of regional media had been heard."

Mr Barilaro, the deputy Premier who doubles at the Minister for Regional NSW, organised a regional media hook-up.

"It was clear how many questions had gone unanswered for regional NSW media by the 50 or so journalists who turned up to find out exactly what the state government planned to do to address intensifying regional outbreaks; a lack of access to GPs and vaccinations in rural areas; and shocking turnaround times on tests for people in regional NSW," Ms Link said.

"It was definitely a valuable experience considering the concerns of regional NSW are so vastly different from that of the cities - and fantastic to hear that Mr Barilaro will be back again tomorrow for a virtual regional COVID update so we can keep our communities properly informed."

So with that in mind, regional NSW, know that if you're from Tamworth, COVID test results may take up to five days but Sydney's construction workers will move to rapid antigen testing to reduce the pressure on pathology labs; Dubbo and Walgett will be considered for mass vaccination hubs; and the statewide lockdown will likely last longer than seven days.

Here's hoping the flow of information continues - for all our sakes - beyond tomorrow. But know if it doesn't, it won't be for trying.

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