This time last year NSW was being hailed as the gold standard for its response to COVID-19.

Our businesses were open, our major sports were back up and running and people were being urged to get out and travel through the regions.

We knew the pandemic was far from over but there was an overwhelming confidence that our state was better placed than most to handle whatever was to be thrown at it next.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian was being hailed as a national hero for keeping the NSW economy going while the state's contract tracers were being called the world's best as they meticulously hunted down every emerging chain of transmission.

But that was then.

Today the COVID-19 threat across NSW is starting to leak across state borders and our political leaders are being blamed for not acting soon enough.

Victoria has already closed its border to everyone from NSW and other states are monitoring the situation. New Zealand has also paused its travel bubble with NSW.

A reluctance to put residents and businesses into lockdown that served us so well last year appears to be hurting us badly this year.

Greater Sydney has had its stay at home orders extended until July 30, at least, and while the restrictions remain far less onerous in regional centres, there is a growing feeling of dread that it must be just a matter of time until cases appear out here.

These are nervous times and it's natural for people to look for someone to blame but we need to cut our political and health leaders some slack.

We might know more about COVID-19 than we knew this time last year but there is still so much we are learning every day.

The delta variant is a different beast to the alpha variant and we now know that the 2020 response will not work in 2021.

The federal government's vaccine rollout could have been handled better but we have to accept that mistakes will be made when circumstances can keep changing so quickly.

But we must not give up hope; we must keep doing the right thing, we must keep adapting and we must keep looking out for each other.

Much has changed since 2020 but much remains the same. Hang in there, NSW - we will get through this together.