SYDNEY — Australian officials reinstated social distancing measures in Sydney as New Zealand partially suspended the pair’s “travel bubble” on Thursday, amid fears an Indian variant case of COVID-19 could spur a significant outbreak.
The swift action was taken a day after a 50-year-old man became the first reported local transmission case in New South Wales state in more than a month, with the source of his infection baffling health officials.
Further testing determined the man was infected with a variant first detected in India and genomic sequencing had linked the case to a returned traveler from the United States, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said on Thursday, but …
Keep on reading: Mystery Australian COVID case spurs return of masks, travel bans