The Tamworth local government area was due to come out of lockdown on Tuesday, but all of NSW will now be subject to heavy restrictions until just after midnight on Saturday.

SSS BBQ Barns Bar n Grill Tamworth (SSS) co-manager Joel Benkoe said while the lockdowns are hard to deal with, they have been a part of life for the past 18 months.

"It was pretty difficult to hear, I know we speak for small businesses when we say it's been tough, however, we had to do it March last year when the very first lockdown was put in place," he said.

"So we have to move with the times."

He admitted coping with restrictions and keeping staff and the community safe has been hard work.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has hinted lockdowns may be a thing of the past should a certain percentage of the population be vaccinated, and Mr Benkoe is looking forward to the day restrictions are lifted.

"While it will never be the same as it was, if everyone gets in and does their bit when it comes to vaccinations, etcetera," he said.

"It will be the huge difference in everyone's lives getting back to what will be the new normal hopefully in that October-November period."

Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson has issued his support for businesses, and said there are numerous government support schemes available.

But, he admitted it's difficult to account for the amount of turnover they have lost in recent times.

"It's very tough, I really feel for those hotels, pubs, clubs, cafes that struggled last year and here we are again doing the same thing," he said.

Mr Anderson urged the community to hang in there and continue abiding by the restrictions for an extra few days, and said the region has done "great" so far.

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He said the situation further west in the state shows the virus can spread quickly in rural communities, and the Tamworth local government area has done well to avoid the Delta strain so far.

"The lockdowns have proven to be the way forward in the first instance in stopping the spread of the virus, so Tamworth has done really well," he said.

"We've been in a lockdown for a week already and we've managed to contain it despite there being fragments in a sewage test, so I would like to keep it that way."

He believes it's vital this lockdown works, so the region can open back up again before the economic impact becomes even worse.

Mr Anderson said there was no use in playing crystal ball as to whether the region was going into a further lockdown due to low testing numbers.

He said moving forward the most important thing locals can do is get vaccinated, so the state can start looking at a life without lockdowns.

Tamworth Regional Council mayor Col Murray said the statewide lockdown isn't something that surprised him, and he hopes it has the desired effect - so at least rural NSW can reset afterwards.

"With the rapid spread around the regions we certainly did expect it, and particularly when you look at places like Dubbo and the impacts it's having there," he said.

"I think it's a wise move because we've got to stop the interconnectivity of people between cities and regions."

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