One month since COVID-19 came to the Border, we ask about the recovery process

A 41-year-old man who had returned from overseas travel was tested by Albury Wodonga Health's clinic and the virus was confirmed.

By the end of that week, Albury four confirmed cases, and a returned Albury traveller isolating in a Sydney Hotel brought the city's case tally to eight on April 17.

There has been no community transmission reported in the city.

Since March 22, cases across the Murrumbidgee Local Health District - which includes Albury despite the Victorian government running our health service and spans a huge area all the way up to Lake Cargelligo - have risen to 45.

But the rise is consistent with an overall national trend that Federal Minister Greg Hunt described yesterday as a "sustained" flattening of the curve.

In other good news, yesterday the number of tests done by MLHD has now exceeded 3000 - only 1.4 per cent of people tested have returned a result for COVID-19.

And 73 per cent - or 33 - cases are now deemed "recovered".

Asked what it takes for a person to be cleared to come out of self-isolation after testing positive, a MLHD spokeswoman said they would need to return a negative test.

"When a person tests positive for COVID-19 they are contacted by the MLHD Public Health Unit and instructed to undertake self-isolation," she said.

"The time between when a person is exposed to the virus and when symptoms first appear is typically five to six days, although may range from two to 14 days.

"For this reason people are instructed to self-isolate for at least 10 days from onset of symptoms.

"In addition, individuals must have had at least 72 hours after their acute symptoms have resolved before being released from isolation."

People are clinically assessed before being released from isolation after the required timeframe for self-isolation and once they have returned a negative test.

The spokeswoman said the health unit checks up with people who have the virus daily, "to monitor their health throughout the course of the illness."

"As part of this process, individuals are clinically assessed," she said.

"NSW Health has commenced a process where a person will be called 21 days after diagnosis and will be asked about when their symptoms resolved.

"This data will be used to establish length of illness times in Australia."

Tragically, one life has been lost to COVID-19 in our region and five people have been hospitalised, including two people who received treatment at Albury Wodonga Health.

While the majority of people who have the virus in Albury, Federation and Berrigan are recovering, it's unclear how many of those at the Victorian side of the border are back to health.

The Department of Health and Human Services are not currently providing granular data on recovery rates in Local Government Areas.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The case tallies for Wodonga (1) Wangaratta (2) Benalla (3) and Moira (11) have remained unchanged since April 10.

Moira is the regional LGA outside of a 200 kilometre radius of Melbourne with the most cases, at 11, with Greater Shepparton and Wellington both having 10 cases.

As at April 21, only eight out of 79 Victorian LGAs had not recorded a COVID-19 case, nearly half of which are in the North East; Indigo, Alpine, Towong, Hindmarsh, Glenelg, Buloke, Pyrenees, and Colac-Otway.

"Our work right now is focused on saving lives from coronavirus - and we have over 1000 disease detectives working around the clock for that purpose," a DHHS spokesperson said.

"Tracing teams are reporting on data that normally takes days and weeks to present - they are to be commended for their work as they provide the best, most accurate data as soon as it is available."

The criteria for testing has been broadened. MLHD invites anyone who believes they may have contracted the COVID-19 virus to call the Murrumbidgee COVID-19 Hotline on 1800 831 099 for a confidential over the phone assessment (7.00 am - 9.00 pm).

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are: