A THIRD of the defence force's 1500 members involved in helping tackle COVID-19 are based along NSW's borders.
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The acting commander for the army's COVID-19 taskforce Major General Paul Kenny said on Monday that the number assigned to his group had risen by 800 in the past two weeks.
"In NSW we have approximately 500 personnel supporting the NSW police at border control points," he said.
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"These personnel are currently located in 29 different locations."
Major General Kenny also reported that 12 soldiers bound for the Border had tested negative to coronavirus after having been quarantined at Wagga's RAAF base.
The army members were to be part of the joint operation with police monitoring the NSW-Victorian border closure, but it was unclear where exactly along the Murray River they would have worked.
The 12 have been in self-isolation at the Wagga air force base since Friday.
They visited the Crossroads Hotel in the Sydney suburb of Casula last Thursday.
The pub has been tied to multiple cases of COVID-19 over the past 10 days, with hundreds of attendees now quarantining.
The soldiers will still stay in isolation for 14 days despite the negative results.
The entirety of the RAAF base is not in lockdown.