New South Wales is set to begin a trial of a seven-day home quarantine for fully-vaccinated international returns as the state recorded 1,284 new cases of Covid-19 and 12 deaths on Friday.
It is understood 100 fully-vaccinated people will take part in the test of the new system which will slash the time required for returned travellers to isolate.
'For those returning Australians who have double dose vaccinations, they will be able to consider having a home quarantine setting rather than having to be in a hotel,' the NSW Premier said.
It comes as twelve country towns were released from lockdown at 1pm on Thursday but residents were urged to remain vigilant while enjoying their new-found freedom.
However, Lismore and Albury were plunged back into a seven-day lockdown from 6pm on Thursday after too many new cases emerged.
Albury, on the Victorian-NSW border, recorded two mystery cases with 'possible links to Sydney' but believed to be unrelated to each other.
One case of coronavirus was detected in Lismore in the state's north, again with possible links to Sydney, with health officials concerned about exposure in the area.
The twelve regional LGAs freed from lockdown include Bega Valley, Blayney, Bogan, Cabonne, Dungog, Forbes, Muswellbrook, Narrabri, Parkes, Singleton, snowy Monaro and the Upper Hunter shire LGAs.
The country towns coming out of lockdown were deemed low-risk by health officials and have not recorded any cases of the virus for the past two weeks.
It comes as NSW Labor wants the state government to restore more outdoor recreation freedoms to western Sydney locals, after two regional NSW areas went back into lockdown.
Two regional NSW local government areas have been forced back into COVID-19 lockdown as the Labor opposition demands more requests more
