NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian might be ramping up efforts to get people tested but regional areas are a long way behind, data from NSW Health shows.

The Murrumbidgee Local Health District (LHD) has the lowest rate of testing in the state at 1240 tests per 100,000 people. Towns such as Wagga Wagga, Albury, Cootamundra, Griffith, Lake Cargelligo and Young are in this LHD.

By comparison, almost three times as many people are being tested in the South Eastern Sydney, Northern Sydney and the Nepean Blue Mountains LHD which includes large parts of western Sydney.

The rates for these LHDs are 3428, 3196 and 3508 per 100,000 respectively.

Other metropolitan areas have more than double the testing rate of the Murrumbidgee LHD.

The Sydney LHD testing rate is 2988 per 100,000, while this drops slightly in Hunter New England (2472 tests per 100,000), Central Coast (2466), Western Sydney (2422) and Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD (2442).

The second lowest rate of COVID-19 testing rate is in the Western NSW LHD at 1540 tests per 100,000 people.

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Western NSW LHD public health manager Priscilla Stanley would not comment on why the rate of testing was lower in this health district or if officials feared they had missed any COVID-19 cases due to the testing disparity between metropolitan and regional areas.

"Testing is voluntarily and not mandated and can only be carried out on those who present at hospitals, dedicated COVID-19 clinics and pathology centres and their local GP," she said.

"Testing recommendations are the same across the state and specimens are being collected from all areas."

Murrumbidgee LHD public health director Tracey Oakman said she supports the premier's goal of increased testing.

During the past week testing rates have risen, she said, with 578 extra tests conducted. A total of 3667 people have now been tested in this LHD.

"MLHD recently expanded screening criteria to enable more people to be tested for COVID-19," Ms Oakman said.

With the easing of coronavirus lockdown rules from Friday, she said testing was more important than ever.

"A low transmission rate is a prerequisite before we can start to return to normal," she said.

The Murrumbidgee LHD will launch a mobile COVID-19 testing clinic on Monday, May 4.

Anyone with respiratory symptoms or unexplained fever should be tested for COVID-19.

Find out where your closest COVID-19 clinic in NSW is located.

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