Like everything else this year, COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way the 2020 eisteddfod will operate.

For one, many sections will be judged online with competitors asked to submit a video of their performance.

Second, those sections that are held inside the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre will go ahead with far fewer people inside the venue.

And third, perhaps most significantly, this year's eisteddfod will be held at a time when the state government is actively discouraging unnecessary movement of people between communities.

Bathurst mayor Bobby Bourke and Bathurst MP Paul Toole are among those who this week indicated a preference for the 2020 eisteddfod to be open only to competitors from the 2795 postcode - and no doubt many in the Bathurst community support that stance.

And while the eisteddfod committee has not gone that far, they did issue a request for outside competitors (and particularly those from known COVID-19 hot spots) to reconsider their travel here.

No one should be happy the committee has been forced to ask such a thing and many competitors will be disappointed by the prospect of missing the chance to perform, but it was the least they could do. An outright ban on performers travelling from hot spot areas would have been more in keeping with community expectations.

Daily COVID-19 infections remain in low in NSW but the danger is far from over.

We need to remain vigilant and we need to keep making sacrifices.

When we look back in years to come, we will be much happier to say we took measures to stop the spread of the virus too far, rather than not far enough.