With rumours of a positive case swirling on Friday, Mr Gee published he'd heard unconfirmed reports of the region's first COVID-19 case in months on his Facebook page before the LHD confirmation.

In a statement to the Central Western Daily on Friday, Mr Gee encouraged NSW Health authorities to let the public know of new cases "as quickly as humanely possible".

"Until a vaccine arrives, public information combined with testing are vital to successfully keeping a lid on this virus," Mr Gee said.

"In order to round up COVID-19 locally, we're also going to need details of new infections as soon as they arise."

He encouraged the community to download the COVID-Safe app and to continue practising social distancing.

"We've seen that COVID-19 can escalate very quickly," Mr Gee said.

"The whole community needs to remain vigilant, so if you have even the slightest symptom, please make sure you go and get tested."

Western NSW LHD chief executive Scott McLachlan was asked about politicians putting information out in the public realm before the LHD had confirmed cases.

"I'm very keen to ensure the public gets the accurate information as soon as we know and as soon as we're confident we're able to deliver information which can help ease community concern, but also give the community the right advice," Mr McLachlan said.

"I don't know about politicians giving advice early but I know we're the ones playing the role of public contact tracing, we're the ones in contact with patients and close contacts."

There has been debate in recent days about public access to coronavirus data, especially in Victoria where data the public can't see is being used to decide major policy decisions.

Victoria announced more than 400 cases on Monday and another 13 deaths, with 6489 active cases in the state.

Nearly 400 of them are in regional areas.

Victoria announced the majority of businesses and industries would close from Wednesday night for the duration of the six-week stage four lockdown period, with construction and retail substantially limited by the state.