Albury's mayor has expressed concern at Border residents going about their business "like there was no pandemic".
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Kevin Mack raised concerns after the new border crossing rules allowed those in Victoria to cross into Albury for whatever reason and said "people were all over each other" over the weekend.
"You only need one infected person involved in that contact and suddenly you've got 100 people infected," he told media on Tuesday.
Cr Mack said while he encourages NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian to reopen the border with NSW to all regional Victorians, he believes the ring of steel around Melbourne simply wasn't working.
"We have taken the hits, we can't take any further hits," he said.
"We cant allow this thing to have a third iteration to allow the whole process to unravel.
"We need to be cautious about opening up borders because the first time it didn't work that well.
"We were hung out to dry, and let's be honest we are still being hung out to dry.
"Let's not wreck it with the foolish belief that we are through this pandemic - because we are not.
"The concern I have, and it was obvious over the weekend when we relaxed the conditions, there was an over proliferation of people going about their business like there was no pandemic.
"I am talking about social distancing, being smart about washing your hands, wearing masks or whatever you're doing, but no they were all over each other.
"That is not going to solve the problem."
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The more relaxed restrictions north of the Border, which includes masks not being mandatory, saw Albury businesses flooded with shoppers and diners over the weekend.
Cr Mack has warned people the pandemic "isn't over yet" and being COVID safe needs to remain a priority, despite the more freedom being lived in NSW.
"I just really want to reinforce the fact that people need to be smart, we have done so well because we have socially distanced and washed our hands and watched the way we cough and all of that," he said.
"But I have concerns about behaviour.
"Yes, let's open the border but let's also reinforce the fact people need to continue to be strident about their behaviour when it comes to this pandemic.
"It is a long way from gone.
"The staged approach is the appropriate way of reopening the border and I encourage the premier to consider opening the border up to other regional areas of Victoria.
"We are victims of it but we can also be part of the solution about how we move forward. "
