Their primary role is to prevent coronavirus from spreading through Albury-Wodonga and surrounds, and to date they are winning the war.

Ms Bridges, in the role of infection control consultant for Albury Wodonga Health, is drawing on her first-hand experience of combatting COVID, as part of an international team, when it first appeared in Saudi Arabia in the early 2010s.

Ms Driver works alongside Ms Bridges managing the drive-through swabbing clinic in Wodonga.

"(Saudi Arabia) had a lot of healthcare workers acquire coronavirus," Ms Bridges said..

"We had a couple of months when it was quite bad, but once we got over there, made some changes and recommendations the outbreak settled down and decreased."

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She said planning for the Australian response ramped up in late January, with the decision to shut borders to overseas travellers a key factor in limiting the spread compared to levels seen overseas.

Preparations included managing patient flow, cleaning regimes and procedures around the safe use of personal protective equipment.

"We've been really lucky," Ms Bridges said.

"We are now just screening for that community transmission to see if there is anything out there.

"Until they grounded the planes on March 16 and after my experience in Saudi Arabia, I felt the steam train was definitely headed our way.

"I felt we were going to be another Italy or New York and I feel there is still a calm before the storm.

"Once we start letting the restrictions come off a little bit the monitoring of that community transmission is going to be important."

Ms Driver said successful infection control underpinned the entire healthcare system.

"It is pretty exciting to think we've got it all up and running in quite a quick timeframe," she said.

"We're seeing patients about every 10 minutes.

"It has been a pretty big learning curve, but it's been a great service we've been able to provide."