A traditional party with extended family and friends was not an option for Thomas Nestor who has been housebound for almost two months because of the deadly virus.

So his mother created a sign from cardboard and on Wednesday used star pickets to display it on the family's front lawn in South Dubbo.

Rachelle Nestor wrote on the sign "Beep to wish Tommy a Happy 5^th Birthday".

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What happened next has made the Nestor family, including Thomas' father Michael and three-year-old sister Charlotte, evermore grateful for good neighbours and the wider Dubbo community.

"It turned out to be the best birthday yet," Mrs Nestor said on Thursday morning.

"We all had such a great day.

"It was heartwarming to have the community get involved and help us make Thomas feel even more special and loved."

Within five minutes of the sign going up at 6.45am, neighbours had begun marking the special occasion.

"A neighbour owns the Mr Softy Ice Cream van and played happy brthday music at 6.50am," Mrs Nestor said.

"Good friends up the road", owners of All Aspects Concreting and Earthworks, joined in soon after.

"..when all the boys were going to work they were in a convoy beeping their horns," Thomas' mother said.

Friends and family, all essential workers, made detours on their way to work in order to share the love.

Others changed their walking routes in order to shout "Happy Birthday".

Garbage collectors, the mailman and a passing taxi contributed to the chorus of beeps.

By the afternoon, "word of mouth" had delivered a video and many well-wishers in unfamiliar vehicles.

Mr Nestor, who had asked and got a day off work at Dubbo City Toyota to spend with his family on Thomas' birthday, received a video of his work colleagues beeping the horns of cars on the lot.

The family spent most of Wednesday "out the front" where Thomas did laps of the driveway on his new bike.

"Every time Thomas heard a beep he would call out 'thank you', wave and crack a big smile," Mrs Nestor said.

Her little man told her "they're wishing me happy birthday Mum".

Cars beeping as they passed the family home may have heard a bell.

"When he heard a beep he would ring his little bell on his bike as well," Mrs Nestor said.

The mother of two told of hearing "hundreds" of beeps across the day, both "frequent and loud".

"There was lots of noise coming from our street on Wednesday," Thomas' mother said.

Mrs Nestor has thanked well-wishers on the road and on the Daily Liberal's Facebook page where a photograph of the sign, contributed by a reader, was posted on Wednesday afternoon.

Old friends and new acquaintances reached out to the Nestor family, leaving dozens of comments.

"Happy 5th birthday Tommy toot! toot!," wrote Julie Merrick.

The Nestor children helped their mother decorate a special and triple-themed birthday cake as part of the celebrations.

"We had a little party at home on Wednesday night, just the four of us," Mrs Nestor said.

She said the necessary absence of family on the occasion, especially Thomas' grandparents, had prompted the effort to make his birthday "as special as possible".

The community's response on Wednesday was a "silver lining" of the current pandemic.

"You've got to look out for those silver linings don't you," Mrs Nestor said.