New Zealand partially paused the trans-Tasman travel bubble arrangement with Australia, suspending arrivals from Western Australia. The Perth and Peel regions were sent into a three-day lockdown after WA recorded its first community transmission for many months.
A man had spent time in a quarantine hotel and looks to have passed it onto relatives in Perth. Officials said he had tested negative for the virus before leaving hotel quarantine.
"He spent up to five days in Perth, and we now need to assume he was infectious," said Western Australia premier Mark McGowan.
"As set out in our Trans-Tasman bubble protocols, travel between New Zealand and Western Australia has been paused, pending further advice from the state government," a statement on the New Zealand government website said.
