Tasmanians who were left stuck in regional NSW while the COVID Delta variant kept them from returning home have welcomed the government's home quarantine trial.
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But for Russell Locke and David Johnson, the changes came too late for them to reap the benefits.
The trial, instated by the state government and due to kick-off from Friday, will see Tasmanian residents in regional NSW who are double-vaccinated, have provided a negative COVID test and have no other occupants in their home able to serve the two week quarantine period at home.
While welcome, the announcement meant little for Mr Johnson who had been able to travel back to Tasmania and into home quarantine due to extenuating circumstances.
"[Quarantine] is just one of those difficult scenarios that causes a lot of stress for a number of reasons," he said.
Mr Johnson said his entire ordeal had left him thousands of dollars out of pocket and made him wary of crossing the border again.
"I don't know when we'll next go travelling," he said.
With family in NSW and overseas, Mr Johnson said it was an unfortunate but necessary consideration.
The couple had just less than one week remaining on their hotel quarantine stint, meaning they would be there one day past the first day of the trial.
"The trial is sweet and sour," Mr Locke said.
"We were at our wits end with no end in sight. We went into hotel quarantine because it was just getting too hard financially and psychologically.
"I'm happy for those people still stuck in NSW, in a region without COVID. And I'm glad we finally got here."
Mr Locke said the money spent stuck in NSW combined with the quarantine fee totalled to about $6000.
As of Friday, the number of those stuck in regional NSW sat at 199.
Like Mr Johnson, Mr Locke said he would not be travelling across borders "any time soon".
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