"Don't come to the North Coast" this was the very clear message sent to everyone thinking about coming to Lismore, Nimbin or other areas of the Northern Rivers.

The words at a press conference this morning at Lismore Base Hospital, came from Wayne Jones, Northern NSW Local Health District Chief Executive and Richmond Police District Command Superintendent Toby Lindsay.

(Wayne Jones and Superintendent Toby Lindsay greet each other with an elbow bump at Lismore Base Hospital today)

"As we are about to enter the holidays and I am encouraging people to please stay away," Mr Jones said.

These words were echoed by Superintendent Lindsay, who said "the Northern Rivers has done an exceptional job in practicing social distancing".

"As we have heard from a number of weeks now this is really important to keep our communities safe," he said.

"Please stay at home. Please don't travel over the Easter long weekend and if you do have to leave home make sure it is only for one of those key essential purposes which is going to work, seeking medical assistance, caring for another, seeking food or essentials or for exercise.

"It is vitally important that everyone in the community does their bit to help keep the community safe."

NSW police will be out in force over the long weekend, as is normal but police will be paying particular attention to coastal areas, up and down the northern area to make sure people do keep away and keep our communities safe.

The key message is please stay at home where you can for your own safety and the safety of others.

Following the press conference, Wayne Jones confirmed that Lismore's confirmed coronavirus case numbers remain at 5.

The total number of cases in NSW stands at 2,773 - however the good news was that there were only 39 new cases in the last 24 hours, which is the lowest daily count since March 16.

There does look to be some hope of life slowly returning to normal in the coming months but only if everyone in our community keeps heeding the 'stay at home' advice.