Ms Huffer, who grew up in Ballarat, has been working in the United States the past two years but tight international borders means she has not seen her family for more than 18 months.

Her son is in Melbourne and she has a daughter in England. It is unclear when they will be together once more.

A rare chance came up for Ms Huffer to fly home to Australia - provided she remain in hotel quarantine in Melbourne until December 29. Christmas will be different, but Ms Huffer said the delay would be worthwhile to see her parents and family in Ballarat once more.

"It's been tough (being in the US) when you look at it from my parents' and family's perspective," Ms Huffer said.

"They're seeing on the news how bad COVID is in the States and it must be worrying for them. What they don't see is the control we take in working from home, only going out to the supermarket and being careful who we meet."

Ms Huffer and her husband live in Denver, Colorado, where she said COVID numbers had been relatively good. Winter, particularly with heavy snow conditions, was making it harder for authorities to control the virus' spread.

Outside dining was impractical.

Denver is also a major feeder city to renowned ski destinations Aspen and Vail. Ms Huffer said there was one road into Aspen and people now had allotted days for travel in a bid to keep visitor numbers down. She said the economy as a whole was really hurting.

The US has confirmed more than 17 million COVID-19 cases. Media is reporting US coronavirus deaths soared past 3600 for Wednesday, topping all previous day records, according to John Hopkins University data. More than 307,700 people have died from coronavirus in the US.

California became the first US state to record more than 50,000 COVID-19 cases in a single day and an estimated two people are dying from the virus every hour in Los Angeles County.

Ms Huffer said about three to four months ago, one in 293 Coloradans had coronavirus. That ratio was now one in 40 and quickly rising in the winter.

Both Ms Huffer and her husband have managed to avoid coronavirus infection.

Family friends who work in frontline emergency services have been infected and Ms Huffer said this industry, full of those who serve others, was devastated.

But culturally, Ms Huffer said, it was incredibly unlikely lockdowns - like her Victorian family had experienced - would ever work in the United States.

"The American Constitution has embedded freedoms that make a good talking point," Ms Huffer said. "There has been strong resistance on whether certain states can impose such restrictions and that is a big challenge."

American-in-Daylesford Michele Bauer said these large issues were when the cultural differences between the United States and Australia really stood out.

Ms Bauer said her family back in the US, based in multiple states, were planning a relatively normal Christmas gathering. Just as they had for Thanksgiving. They were just getting on with life.

"I appreciate the interest and concern," Ms Bauer said. "My biggest observation though is while Australia is very similar to the US in some ways, culturally, in other ways they are very, very different.

"Sometimes the subtleties weigh out.

"Liberty is a very strong quality in the US that is often unspoken but we take a lot of pride in it. Things like (COVID) come up and the subtle cultural differences between Australia and the US rears its head.

"Liberty is important to both nations, there are just differences in the ways it expresses itself."

Ms Bauer's family is predominantly based in Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Her immediate family is in Indiana.

She said Florida was not doing so great COVID-wise and "sticking its head in the sand". This was a state with an older population, because of the warmer weather, and a huge tourism state with attractions like Disney World.

Whereas Michigan and Pennsylvania, both big states, were "so-so", she said, depending on where you were.

"It is challenging and I'm actually amazed none of my family has contracted the virus. I'm shocked - and I'm sure there have been some near misses," Ms Bauer said. "...They all keep on keeping on, for sure. But there are mixed feelings and it's a very different culture.

"They're all very 'live and let live' at the end of the day. Not that my family is being reckless, but they went to Florida for a holiday without masks.

":...My father said it becomes very hard to discern between what is misinformation and what isn't - and I could say the same in Australia. It's almost impossible. What he does is best discern what he feels is right and relies on his instinct a lot."

Friends in the US have looked at Victoria's strict lockdowns and Ms Bauer said many totally understood. Others felt it looked too extreme but still felt something had to be done.

"Surely there has to be a balance point," Ms Bauer said. "It's a practical culture with 'let live' at the centre."

One of Ms Bauer's friends has a PhD on influenza and has been reviewing COVID data and trying to break down what was happening, in basic terms, to help people make the best choices they can in a sea of many voices.

Ms Bauer said finding that information was vital to help understanding.

Meanwhile, Ms Heffer was only early in her hotel quarantine but felt well looked after as she waited for a chance to see her Ballarat family and her son face-to-face. They will also travel to Gippsland where her husband's family is based.

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