SYDNEY/WELLINGTON – Australia’s largest city of Sydney re-introduced “soft touch” Covid-19 curbs on Wednesday to contain a widening outbreak of the highly infectious Delta variant, mandating masks in offices while neighbouring states closed their borders.
New Zealand raised the alert level in its capital of Wellington over exposure concerns after an Australian tourist tested positive for the virus upon returning to Sydney from a weekend visit to the neighbouring nation, Reuters reported.
The latest virus cluster in Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) has swelled to more than 30 in a week, prompting New Zealand to halt quarantine-free travel.
On Wednesday, the state tightened curbs for a week on gatherings and movement in Sydney, but stopped short of a full lockdown, as fears grew that the latest cluster of the highly infectious Delta variant could drive a major outbreak.
“We have gone from near and present danger to a very real and present danger, not just in a shopping centre but right across Sydney,” the state’s health minister, Brad Hazzard, told reporters in Sydney.
In New Zealand, Wellington will move to a ‘level 2’ alert, or one short of a lockdown, until Sunday midnight as a precaution against any potential outbreak.
New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, agreed to quarantine-free travel with Australia this year as both had reined in community spread of the virus.
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