Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has stopped quarantine-free travel from New South Wales to New Zealand as the source of infection of the two cases in Sydney in the past two days is investigated.
Genome sequencing has linked the case to a recent returnee who arrived in Australia from the United States. A household contact of yesterday's case has returned a positive test.
Hipkins said while the new case announced today is not unexpected as a household contact of yesterday's case, officials have assessed that with several outstanding unknowns in the situation in Sydney it is safest to pause the quarantine-free travel from 11.59pm today.