Some residents are still confused, complacent or defiant around changing Covid rules with Riverina police issuing 42 fines in four days for breaches of the public health act.

Michael Gestier has run The Health Food Store at Sturt Mall for over 20 years and is still open for essential shopping. He says while the majority of customers have been diligent about following the rules, he believes both customers and businesses need to take responsibility when it comes to following the rules.

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"I think it's got to be a shared awareness," he said. "It's a shared responsibility because us stores that are open for essential services are putting ourselves in front of the public in a situation a lot of people don't have to, you would hope there would be respect for that from the customer. It's a two way street."

He said while he believes he has a duty to say something if someone attempts to enter his store without checking in, with no mask or in a pair with someone who isn't a dependent, enforcing a health order is a tall order for retail staff.

"If there was a [violation] we should be mentioning it," he said. "If a couple came in we would mention that you can only shop singly, but what sort of response we might get I don't know."

"I'm the store owner, it doesn't worry me having to do it and what type of response I would receive. But it does worry me if it is one of my team making that approach and they received some kind of aggressive response - that would concern me yes.

"It's a big ask because it's really not part of their job description."

A spokesperson for the Sturt Mall said that while they have security on site and measures in place to make sure the rules are being adhered to, when it comes to violations it is ultimately up to police to enforce compliance.

"It is the responsibility of the police to enforce any COVID rules," they said. "At the Sturt Mall we continue to have security onsite to monitor the adherence of the NSW Government COVID regulations for the health and safety of our tenants, customers, team members and the local community."

They added that they are continuing to provide information to the public around Covid regulations, but individuals and individual stores have to be aware and following regulations themselves.

"As a community each individual should be aware of the regulations as they are enforced and changed," they said. "As a shopping centre, we provide information to the retailers as it comes available, it is then the store's responsibility to adhere to those regulations."

On Monday one Wagga woman visited her local Coles with her fiance and was fined $1000 for inadvertently breeching the single-person shopping order.

A spokesperson for Coles said they have a number of measures in place to keep staff and customers safe.

"We're working closely with the Department of Health to ensure the most effective protection for our customers and team members in our stores," they said.

Some have reported confusion regarding rules about the number of people allowed to go shopping, the number of times per day and the definition of essential items.

In a statement to The Daily Advertiser, NSW Health confirmed that "unless it is not reasonably practicable, only one person per household may leave their home to shop for food or other goods and services (you may take a dependent person with you if that person cannot be left at home on their own)" but did not made mention of only leaving the home for shopping once per day as is stated on their website.

They called for shoppers to "not just comply with Public Health Orders, but to make practical and sensible decisions that will limit your risk of acquiring COVID-19 and keep our loved ones and the broader community safe at this critical time."

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