The face of the NSW COVID response, Chief Medical Officer Kerry Chant, has been named NSW Public Servant of the Year at the 2020 Premier’s awards.

Announcing the awards last week, NSW Public Service Commissioner Kathrina Lo said the award recognised exemplary work, outstanding leadership and all the attributes of a world class public servant.

Premier Gladys Berejicklian said Dr Chant, the state’s longest-serving chief health officer, had been at the frontline of the state’s pandemic health strategy.

“Dr Chant is more than deserving of the Public Servant of the Year award for her ongoing efforts in keeping our community safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ms Berejiklian said.

Dr Chant paid tribute to her team for helping steer the state through the pandemic.

“During 2020 we’ve had to combat the challenge of COVID,” she said.

“My role has allowed me to work with a very strong team with NSW Health, its also been a time where we’ve had to work effectively across government agencies with polie, with service nsw , with transport and with education.

“The team work and the collaboration which has allowed us to navigate COVID I think quite well.”

However, she noted that challenges remained in the battle against coronavirus.

“I’m very cautious, and we’ve still got a long way to go with the COVID response,” she said.

Almost 300 nominations were received across nine categories in the awards, including  seven team awards and two individual, with six finalists competing for Public Servant of the Year.

Ms Berejiklian said 2020 had been one of the most challenging years in the state’s history but one thing that had shone was the NSW Public Service.

“I’m proud of the more than 400,000 public servants who’ve helped NSW meet the challenges of this year including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019-20 bushfires,” the Premier said.

“They have continued to support our citizens and ensure vital services continue to be delivered.”

See the full list of winners here.

Meanwhile, in news just to hand, Former NSW Fire Commissioner, Shane Fitzsimmons AFSM, was on Monday night named NSW Australian of the Year