New Zealand suspends travel bubble with Australia

An Australian state government on Friday declared an emergency due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney.

The New South Wales state government reported one fatality and 136 new infections in the latest 24-hour period, the biggest daily tally of new cases since the outbreak began in mid June.

State Premier Gladys Berejiklian called on the federal government to provide more vaccines for the worst-effected suburbs in Sydney’s west and south.

Sydney has been locked down for a month. The delta variant cluster has spread from Sydney to Victoria and South Australia states which are also locked down. Half Australia’s population of 26 million is currently locked down.

Only 15% of adult Australians are fully vaccinated. While there are ample supplies of locally-manufactured AstraZeneca, many are concerned about the slight risk of blood clots associated with that vaccine and a demanding Pfizer, the only alternative registered in Australia.

Meanwhile New Zealand's government has suspended all quarantine-free travel from Australia for eight weeks due to the emergency in NSW.

New Zealand had already closed the "travel bubble" with three states – New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia - but has now extended the closure to the entire nation.

The suspension will commence just before midnight on Friday night and will be reviewed in eight weeks.

In the other two states in lockdown in Australia, Victoria recorded 14 new cases of COVID-19, all linked to the current outbreak, and South Australia has recorded one new case.

South Australia's Premier, Stephen Marshall, is still unable to confirm whether the state-wide lockdown would end early next week.