Blayney Shire Council mayor Scott Ferguson is urging all residents to stay home and stay safe following the announcement of a seven day snap lockdown in the Orange, Blayney and Cabonne Local Government Areas.
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Despite the difficulties for workers and families across the shire, Cr Ferguson takes heart in the fact that there are no exposure sites listed within the shire.
"We really hope that with this person cruising around Orange and Molong though that nothing pops its head up," he said.
"We're feeling very positive that the comprehensive testing being carried out, the extremely serious response by Nestle and the rapid response from Western NSW Area Health means that we'll all be in a good position.
"It's been swift and strong and they've been getting a lot of support from health regions north and south into Orange to ramp up the contact tracing.
"It's great to see that they're taking this seriously and resourcing it."
Cr Ferguson is also urging the community not to speculate about the current situation and to only take advice from the NSW health website.
He also said that the current outbreak and subsequent lockdown is a wake-up call for everyone, not just those in Blayney.
"This is serious and it's exactly what those living in Sydney and Melbourne, and around the world, have been experiencing on and off for a long time," he said.
Tightening up freight operations is one aspect of the current crisis that Cr Ferguson sees as important, particularly as Blayney is so dependent on transport deliveries.
"We still need truck drivers to come to our region and I think that the way that they're being managed is pretty good and getting better," he said.
"We still need them, but need to look at ways to minimise the opportunity for them to be contagious coming out here because the knock-on effects aren't worth contemplating."
Before the lockdown was announced Cr Ferguson said that businesses within Blayney had already seen a reduction in trade.
"People are just being really careful with their movements now and are only doing what they have to do," he said.
Cr Ferguson said that the Blayney community was well placed to come out of the lockdown.
"If you can work from home, do that. If you don't have to go anywhere, don't. Make sure you wear your mask, sanitise and make sure that you support each other because everyone is a bit sad on it."
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