The year that was in Albury-Wodonga, through border closures and COVID rules

It was a Sunday night and only hours before, an Albury man who had been overseas was confirmed as the Border's first COVID-19 case.

"We will be living with this virus for at least six months," was Mr Morrison's solemn forecast.

From midday the next day, workplaces dubbed "non-essential" were closed. Devastating scenes of queues outside Centrelink were mirrored on our doorstep.

Shopping centres were hit with panic-buying and Coles introduced a dedicated shopping hour for health workers like Wodonga ED nurse Bec Hughson.

"We've kind of been riding on this high level of anxiety since the fires; we haven't actually stopped," she said.

In the same week, Victorian school students were sent home from school three days early and Premier Daniel Andrews assured border communities would remain whole as NSW cases rose.

"I'm not interested in closing our borders, I don't think that makes a lot of sense for us," he said.

Then, things escalated.

By the middle of April, COVID-19 had infected eight people in Albury, one in Wodonga, seven in Federation, 11 in Moira and a handful across smaller shires.

Six people were hospitalised, including a Corowa woman who tragically died.

The incredible fatigue brought on by the virus was described by former Albury resident Amanda Hodgson.

"I don't know how the kids even looked after themselves in that couple of days," she told an online forum.

"Compared to what's going on in the world ... we had it good."

The virus at that time was largely confined to hotel quarantine and close contacts of known cases.

An overrun of hospitals - that would have seen a shortfall of at least 2244 intensive care beds in Albury - did not eventuate.

But businesses remained restricted and 31 people were fined for public health order breaches by Albury Police in April alone.

Some of the pandemic rules seemed fair. Others, not so much.

Ovens Valley MP Tim McCurdy questioned why Victorians couldn't go fishing when it was allowed in NSW.

The blanket ban meant Lake Hume was technically off-limits to even NSW fishos, being classed Victorian waters until north-east of the Bethanga Bridge.

It was to be the first of many state lines made visible by the pandemic.

Around 11am on Monday, July 6, the announcement no one thought possible was made.

"All of us have agreed that the best thing to do is close the border - that closure will be enforced on the NSW side," Premier Daniel Andrews said, as he disclosed 127 new infections in Victoria.

Confusion reigned as people scrambled to access permits from the Service NSW website, which crashed three hours before the closure.

Employers of essential workers drafted up letters in the hope that would allow them passage.

Those within 50 kilometres of the state line could apply for border crossing permits, but people in Beechworth and Yackandandah couldn't get one because of a glitch in the system.

Upper Murray bridges were blocked, adding stress for bushfire-affected residents and in one case, impeding direct access to care for a heavily pregnant woman.

To make matters worse, the virus was back on the Border and this time, it wasn't overseas-acquired.

Two people who had travelled to Melbourne before city suburbs had been placed into lockdown developed symptoms upon their return to Lavington.

The Victorian DHHS listed an active case in Wodonga.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told Border residents to stay put and urged Wagga folk to stay away.

"We can't control what's happened on the other side of the border and I've already had advice this morning that [there is] at least one person from Wodonga who has the virus," she told media in Sydney.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller warned crossing the border "just to have a coffee because the coffee is better" wasn't on.

Entering NSW for work, let alone coffee, became a major challenge a fortnight later when a new public health order was issued.

"Daily life" was dropped from the permits and a two-kilometre border zone introduced, which shut out people as close to Albury as Killara.

"We had no indication this was going to take place," Wodonga's mayor Anna Speedie said.

"Our community, yet again, faces immense frustrations."

Albury High School teacher Zuvele Leschen couldn't get to class. Matt and Mel Grice moved houses so they could keep their Wodonga workshop open. Children's surgeries at Wangaratta were cancelled.

For each case reported in the media, there were hundreds more cases of businesses brought to the brink and families forced apart.

Residents south of the Murray River were given mask orders and went into stage-three restrictions at midnight on August 5, the same day that new COVID-19 cases peaked at 725 in Victoria.

As mystery COVID-19 cases were attributed to North East areas like Indigo, former Wodonga doctor Catherine Orr called for changes to the Department of Health and Human Services.

"The health system in Victoria has failed us," she said.

Victoria's unproven capacity to respond to its deadly second wave was NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian's justification for keeping her state's border closed.

"The issue is how quickly is the contact tracing happening, how quickly are people being told they have the virus?" she said.

"We won't leave the border shut a day more than it needs to be."

The Premier confirmed during her visit on September 1 a larger border bubble would return, but deflected criticisms of her references to Wodonga cases when there had been 53 days without a positive swab in the city.

Albury MP Justin Clancy said the closure was "testing the strength of our communities".

In following months, as permit checks became routine and "daily life" returned as a reason for travel, a new division arose between Albury and Wodonga.

Once regional Victoria began to reopen, it became clear that Wodonga businesses were losing out to Albury where there were no masks and bigger patron caps.

Wodonga's Huon Hill Hotel had nearly 50 people pull out for lunch in one day.

"I'm sure the majority of people who have cancelled will just go across the river tonight and money continues to go out of Wodonga," manager Veronica Parker said.

We learned on November 4 the border wall would come down on the 23^rd of that month, 138 days after it went up and on the fifth consecutive day of no new cases in Victoria.

When the day came, the NSW Premier visited Albury and had breakfast at Cafe Borellas, the only Border business that has been the subject of a public health alert so far during the pandemic.

"I think in the long run, people appreciate we were better off keeping everybody safe," she said.

Ms Berejiklian said she didn't want to see the border between NSW and Victoria shut again in her lifetime.

IN OTHER NEWS:

But the closure has returned, only four weeks later.

The shoe is on the other foot with the Victorian border closure, but the fit is no better.

The mental health toll these events have taken is evident in a survey of 335 businesses.

Seventy per cent said their worries often overwhelmed them and they had trouble staying focused during the NSW border closure.

They were given advice and support by those conducting interviews, from Albury Business Connect and The Personnel Group.

Albury Business Connect general manager Carrick Gill-Vallance said governments would need to step up mental health response capacity in the region from hereon in.

"We knew there was something wrong, and we knew it was having a pretty significant impact," he said.

"Know it's OK to speak to family and friends, and if you've got doubts about your mental health, something is not right and it's worthwhile having a chat with somebody."

In 2020, we've been separated from family, missed mother's and father's days, and prevented from doing the things we love like sport and travel.

At times we have felt harder done-by than those who live five kilometres away.

But at the end of it all, we can truly say we got through it as one community. And we'll be there for each other in 2021.