NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said from midnight on Tuesday, July 21, a border zone, along the Murray River, would restrict entry to NSW for Victorians to extremely limited purposes.

"The growing rates of community transmission in Victoria have us on high alert and the health advice clearly indicates we need to have stricter border closures in place, making it harder to get a permit and easier to cancel them," Mr Hazzard said.

Under a permit, NSW border residents will be restricted in their reasons for travelling into the Victorian side of the border zone. If they travel beyond the border zone into Victoria, they will be required to self-isolate upon return for 14 days.

Any other NSW resident who crosses the Murray River, or otherwise enters Victoria or has been there in the last 14 days, will be required to self-isolate for 14 days on their return to NSW.

Mr Hazzard said all NSW residents were strongly urged not to travel to Victoria.

All currently issued permits and any issued between now and the start of the border zone will expire at midnight on Tuesday and people will have to reapply for a new permit if they are still eligible.

"From midnight Tuesday, July 21, border zone residents with a permit will only be able to cross into the other side of the NSW-Victorian border zone to go to work or attend an education institution if they can't work or learn from home, or to obtain medical care, supplies or health services," Mr Hazzard said.

"On top of that, we're strengthening the rules so the fewer people granted permits to enter NSW must now carry a copy of their permit and produce it when directed by enforcement officers.

"I make no apologies for taking the steps required to protect the health and jobs of NSW citizens."

Mr Hazzard said the new rules will be boosted to give authorities greater enforcement powers to stop people entering NSW and to direct people who are not NSW residents to leave if they present an unacceptable health risk.

NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said people entering NSW from Victoria, in particular greater Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, pose a risk of increasing COVID-19 in NSW.

"The pandemic is not over and Victoria is seeing significant levels of community transmission in many areas of the State. Tightening restrictions on the borders will further protect the health of NSW citizens," Dr Chant said.

"I also want to encourage everyone to continue to come forward for testing. Early detection and diagnosis of cases in the community is going to be key for us in managing and responding to COVID-19."

The conditions imposed on permits under the order are being tightened. The revised order will:

Border residents can check www.service.nsw.gov.au to determine if their address falls within the newly established border restrictions. The information was due to be available from 2pm on Monday.

While the new restrictions are going to affect travel, the transport industry is confident that supplies will continue to be moved between states.

Geoff Crouch, the managing director of Ron Crouch Transport and a former chairman of the Australian Trucking Association, said there had been some initial teething problems when restrictions between NSW and Victoria were introduced, but these were resolved within 24 to 48 hours.

"The current process for heavy vehicles to cross the border - using permits that have to be renewed every 14 days - is not onerous," Mr Crouch said.

"It's been relatively smooth considering the circumstances."

Mr Crouch said the latest requirement from the Victorian government for the wearing of masks was also now being adopted, and was unlikely to cause concerns so long as supplies of these masks remained available.

There is good news for shoppers too, with both Woolworths and Coles saying the tighter restrictions were unlikely to affect deliveries to their supermarkets.