COVID threats from Shepparton and the northern Riverina have been cited by the NSW Deputy Premier for keeping Murray River border areas in lockdown until September 10.
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John Barilaro said concerns across NSW sparked the extension of the stay-at-home restrictions in regional areas, but he cited particular factors for our region.
"When we mapped it, there was a threat on that border, we took that into account, we took into account what was happening with a couple of exposure sites, especially in Temora," he said.
"There are parts of the state that are clean and could argue quickly why we should open their borders, but when you did it against the broader map a lot of it was closed or impacted.
"Therefore it's an easier message, easier for compliance and it's a precautionary measure to make sure we don't have an outbreak, that's why the two-week extension."
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Mr Barilaro was non-committal when asked if numbers in Shepparton would have to be decreasing for NSW border areas to escape lockdown.
"The Victorians have got...the toughest, probably, lockdown restrictions in place and they're struggling to contain (delta)...but they've done it before in the regions in Victoria," he said.
"We'll just watch and manage that as it progresses."
Both Albury's mayor Kevin Mack and NSW MP Justin Clancy were unsurprised the lockdown was maintained, given the state on Thursday passed the thousand mark for cases in a single day, with a record 1029.
"Right now we need to control what we can control and we can't control the lockdown period, but what we can do is get vaccinated (and) remain safe," Cr Mack said.
Mr Clancy rejected a suggestion that Mr Barilaro had given regions false hope by being bullish about the chances of restrictions being lifted.
"I'd much rather have a government that is continuing to explore ways that we can allow our community to move through this with a level of nuance and a level of understanding, rather than just taking a blanket approach," he said.
Mr Barilaro said modelling was occurring on releasing communities via regions as opposed to council areas.
"There is new work being done about more of a regional approach (rather) than going as micro as LGAs," he said.
"It will give a greater level of comfort to Health I believe.
"The other approach could be about a staged approach of lifting certain restrictions to allow a return to normal but maybe not everything in one go."
Mr Barilaro said his "genuine hope" was "we've got to find a way for those communities that have had no cases" to open on September 10.
The Nationals leader noted there would be increasing businesses, such as hospitality providers, that are likely to only cater to vaccinated patrons.
He said a trial set for next month would allow NSW residents to verify their vaccination status at the same time they did a QR scan.
"(With) Service NSW when you do your QR check-in it will also tell if you're vaccinated or not because it will be all linked," Mr Barilaro said.