Kerry Chant spends a fair bit of time on the road at the moment. The state's Chief Health Officer, who lives in Epping, starts her working day at the State Emergency Operations Centre in Homebush before an 8am news conference. Later, she heads to NSW Health's temporary headquarters in St Leonards. Much later, probably after 10pm, she goes home.

At least there's not much traffic, Chant notes.

Dr Kerry Chant, NSW Chief Health Officer, at the department's St Leonards office on Good Friday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The woman leading the state's health response to the coronavirus pandemic is in many ways a classic bureaucrat, not given to talking about herself and much happier waxing lyrical about the credentials of her team.

But it is her name on the box, and much as former Rural Fire Service boss Shane Fitzsimmons' daily briefings came to define the summer, Chant is now a daily fixture in the lives of this state. Has she figured out a way to deal with the pressure?