Thousands across the Western NSW Local Health District region came forward for COVID testing in the past week but not a single case has been found since a Blayney factory worker tested positive last Tuesday.

That single infection prompted a swift reaction from the state government which put around 60,000 residents living in the Orange, Blayney and Cabonne local government areas - and others who had visited the area - into a snap seven-day lockdown, which was thankfully lifted from midnight on Tuesday.

Sending three local government areas into lockdown could not have been was not an easy decision to make and plenty of people across our region have done it tough over the past seven days.

There were also issues with the communication around the lockdown and some confusion over what the restrictions meant for people going to work or school, but that can be forgiven when we consider how quickly the public health orders had to be written and enacted last Tuesday afternoon.

What matters most, though, is that the lockdown seems to have had the desired effect.

Health officials were concerned about the potential spread of COVID-19 across the region after it was found the infected factory worker had visited several locations in Orange while unknowingly infected.

But with thousands of people tested in Parkes, Blayney, Molong, Orange and Bathurst since last Wednesday morning not a single new case of the virus was found.

That's the best news we could have hoped for at this stage but the clear message from health officials remains the same: we are not completely out of the woods.

The Delta strain remains the toughest opponent we've faced in this COVID war and the risk of it leaking into regionals areas from metropolitan Sydney remains a real concern.

It's only by limiting our mobility, sanitising regularly, wearing our masks, keeping our distance from each other and getting tested with even the most minor of symptoms that we can give ourselves the best possible chance of staying on top of it.

Most importantly, everyone who can get the COVID jab should be lining up to do so.

Let's keep doing the right thing - for ourselves and for each other.