NORTH East politicians fear a Mildura coronavirus case will lead to Victoria's COVID lockdown extending regionally beyond Tuesday night.
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Wodonga Upper House MP Tim Quilty said he now believed there was no chance of the lockdown ending in country areas at 11.59pm Tuesday.
"I'm sure Melbourne would have been two weeks, maybe regional Victoria would have been less, who can tell, but with the Mildura case it won't be," Mr Quilty said.
Member for Benambra Bill Tilley said watching Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews' media conference on Sunday did not give him confidence of the lockdown easing but he added "I live in hope".
Mr Andrews said the emergence of a COVID case in Mildura, 542 kilometres from Melbourne, showed how difficult it was to combat the Delta strain.
"Victoria is a big state but when it comes to the spread of this virus, it's actually very small," Mr Andrews said.
The Premier would not be drawn on whether parts of the state would be released from the Victoria-wide lockdown earlier than other areas.
"It is I'm afraid not the day for us to be announcing parts of regional Victoria being let out of this lockdown, or operating under different rules," Mr Andrews said.
Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy wants an area-by-area approach taken to COVID lockdowns.
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"I just hope that the cases like Mildura don't set the precedent to say all of regional Victoria has to shutdown," Mr McCurdy said.
"Mildura is six hours from my electorate and six hours from Melbourne.
"We need to get better with where outbreaks happen, rather than lockdown the whole state because that is not the answer.
"We really should be carving off regions and saying 'here's a region free to open up and trade and play sport'.
"I think locking down the whole state is an easy option."
Mr Tilley expressed concern at the low vaccination numbers being delivered through Albury Wodonga Health compared to other areas of Victoria.
He noted the Border's tally was the lowest among regional health providers, according to data published in The Weekly Times last week.
It showed Albury Wodonga Health had delivered 27,605 vaccines compared to Bendigo (54,800), Ballarat (52,270), Latrobe Valley (37,380) and the Goulburn Valley (34,214).
"We need more people to go and get vaccinated, not to be a watch-and-see," Mr Tilley said.
"The Pfizer vaccine is now available, it's there for people having their first, so go and get booked in and get it done."
Meanwhile, new testing sites to cater to truck drivers, who face tougher rules surrounding COVID swabs, will be south of Seymour alongside the Hume Freeway.
A northbound station began at 6 o'clock on Sunday night at the Broadford weighbridge and will open 6pm to 6am.
A southbound site will operate from Monday from 6pm to 6am at the Beveridge truck stop/weighbridge.
A Department of Health and Human Services official said the locations were designed to complement existing testing venues for Hume Highway freight haulers at Benalla, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Tarcutta.
The last mentioned is at the changeover site and runs 24 hours, seven days a week.
