Albury Business Connect and Business Wodonga say while the rest of the country is opening up, Border businesses are reducing operating hours due to the current COVID-19 outbreak.
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With the Border's active cases reaching into the hundreds, testing clinics at capacity and more than 20 Border schools impacted by COVID, local businesses have been feeling the hit.
Business Wodonga chief executive Graham Jenkins said customers were scared to go into shops.
"It's going to leave us behind that's for sure," he said.
"In my last two to three weeks I've had conversations with business owners where they've just burst into tears about the situation.
"I was talking to someone this morning who said for the first time ever they've done click and collect at the supermarket because he just doesn't want to walk around the supermarket with other people, there's a lot of fear."
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Mr Jenkins said a number of business were also struggling to stay open with many staff isolating.
"A cafe in Wodonga has had to move back to takeaway only, because they haven't got enough staff to do the table service," he said.
"That's a real issue because so many parents are having to stay home with their kids or they have to isolate with their kids depending on the level of exposure.
"If you look at hospitality on its own, all hospitality are struggling to find enough staff at the moment to cope with fully reopening or even partial reopening, but then you take people out who now have to isolate, it just makes it even harder to operate a business."
Albury Business Connect chair Barry Young said "dozens" of businesses had been adversely impacted due to staff isolating and customers staying home.
"There's a dual impact; customers are laying low, they're a bit hesitant to come out and they don't want to take the risk of visiting an exposure site and having to isolate and all the ramifications that may bring," he said.
"And then for business there's certainly some who are nervous, who've reduced hours, reduced staffing and in some cases closed part of their operation around the nervousness of becoming a COVID exposure site and what that would mean for the business."
Mr Young said it was especially daunting for businesses with Christmas just around the corner, but no guarantee that customer numbers would lift.
"A closure because of exposure is hanging over businesses heads and is very unsettling as well," he said.
Mr Young said businesses felt forgotten and frustrated.
"We feel like we've done all that hard work and now we feel a little neglected in terms of whats happening in NSW," he said.
"All things are progressing nicely in Sydney and other regions, but it seems like we've been forgotten.
"We'd really like some focus put on this region and how the government can assist us."
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