The mayor of Forbes Phyllis Miller said she went to bed every night waiting to see if anyone had caught COVID-19 from a potentially infectious Melbourne couple.
The couple travelled through a number of regional NSW towns, including Gillenbah, Forbes, Dubbo and Moree, on their way to Queensland from June the 1st through to June the 5th despite Melbourne being in lockdown.
Earlier this week, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the couple from Victoria had provided a "real and present danger" to the regional communities they visited while travelling to the Sunshine Coast.
Councillor Miller said the Forbes community in the state's Central West had acted responsibly since health authorities issued the alert last Wednesday by coming forward to get tested.
"It has been trying, I was so fearful that we would get a case but fortunately we have not. Every night when you go to bed, you are waiting on those tests to come back the next day, so that has been quite stressful.
"But I feel optimistic now we have come this far and I think we are going to come out the other end," she said.
Councillor Miller said, as with other regional towns such as Moree, initially there were not enough testing kits available in Forbes.
"Our Western area Local Health District stepped up quickly and made sure testing kits were provided."
Katrina Humphries, the Mayor of Moree in the state's North-West, said everyone in her town should get tested despite no new locally acquired cases.
"With every negative test that is coming back, we breathe a sigh of relief, but also we are not naive and we seriously know that sigh of relief could turn into tears at any given minute.
"Our community has been amazing and they have really come out in numbers to be tested but not enough - we need more," Councillor Humphries said.
State health authorities have urged residents in regional NSW to continue to get tested, with pop-up testing clinics open during the whole of the long weekend in Dubbo, Forbes, Narrandera and Moree.
Councillor Miller said while things were hopefully looking good, the town had suffered due to the COVID scare.
