After an Albury person isolating in a Sydney hotel tested positive and added to the region's total on Friday, we had another weekend with no new cases.

The virus has thankfully not spread through our region at high levels and we hope it stays that way with everyone continuing to practice social distancing.

But even though the situation appears under control here for now, we cannot go back to normal until that is the case everywhere else. For some, that is going to be hard to accept.

It is easy to ask "why do we have to continue the restrictions when the problem is somewhere else?".

The answer is, to protect ourselves.

IN OTHER NEWS:

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian weeks ago ruled out making different rules for the city and the country, for good reason.

If that happened not only would it be confusing - and we already have enough mixed messages being sent by our politicians - but she made the point that it would result in a flood of people coming to regional areas.

Anyone with a holiday house, family or friends in the country would head straight there if it meant they did not have to isolate inside anymore. There is a decent chance some of them would unknowingly bring coronavirus with them and all our good work would be undone.

This leaves us powerless - only able to do the right thing and stop the spread of the virus in our own communities while we watch the numbers in Melbourne and Sydney.

Ms Berejiklian and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews seemed to have different ideas of how long restrictions would last when they spoke this week.

Despite belonging to different political parties, they have managed to form a good partnership when it comes to making decisions with cross-border implications.

It would be beneficial for border communities like ours to have the same rules when it comes to eventually lifting restrictions.