The guideline was introduced on March 29 and at the time, deputy chief medical officer Paul Kelly said two-thirds of Australia's then 3580 cases had been linked to overseas travel.

Since then, returned travellers have lived out their 14-day quarantine period at a state-funded hotel, with more than 3600 people currently still in quarantine.

Minister for Jobs, Investment and Tourism Stuart Ayres said 31 hotels and serviced apartments had been used for this purpose.

"First and foremost I want to say an incredibly big thank you to all the hotel staff that have been involved in this program, we for all intents and purposes have turned you into our frontline," he said.

"There's no doubt that the quarantine arrangements that have been put in place since the March 29 have had a profound impact in lowering the rate of infection in NSW."

Mr Ayres during this time the government had also worked on improving the quality of the quarantine period in the hotels.

"If you're in your room for 14 days with very limited ability to leave that room it is a difficult stay," he said.

"While people are isolating in their home you can still walk outside into your garden, you can still go for a walk around the street, those things don't exist for people that are in the [hotel] quarantine arrangement.

"The quality of support and care that they get in those hotels is critically important."

During this time, more than 31,000 catered meals have been provided.

"Family and Community Services here in NSW, along with the support of organisations like the Red Cross, [have provided] welfare and support arrangements in each of the hotels so when incidents have arrived over the course of the 14 day stays we've been able to deal with them as quickly as we possible can," Mr Ayres said.

Of the 13,000 people who have been quarantined in the hotels, 65 per cent have been NSW residents.

"We know that Sydney is the main international hub for returning to Australia so it's logical that the continuation of larger quarantine numbers will continue to happen here," Mr Ayres said.

"This is NSW stepping up to take a leadership role to make sure that not just NSW residents, but residents right across Australia are safer through the course of the COVID crisis."