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NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has called for calm after news broke that New Zealand has recorded a new case of COVID-19.
There are fears the infection could put the recently announced travel bubble in jeopardy, but Ms Berejiklian said the state had no plan to close its border.
“NSW has always had what I regard as a very balanced approach to borders,” she told reporters on Thursday.
“We’ve kept our borders open the entire time except for a very exceptional case (Victoria’s second wave).
“We should accept during this stage of the pandemic that cases will pop up unexpectedly. I would expect others to keep the borders open to NSW if we had an outbreak we could manage, and I extend that same courtesy to New Zealand.”
New Zealand recorded the new case of COVID-19, just days after the country announced the long-awaited two-way travel bubble with Australia.
A 24-year-old quarantine worker at the Grand Millennium hotel in Auckland tested positive after working over the Easter break.
He developed a sore throat four days ago.
“The person lives alone. The case travels to work … with a colleague and this colleague was informed … they are a close contact, and they are self-isolating at home,” NZ director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said on Thursday.
“His colleague has been fully vaccinated and will be having a swab taken today.”
The man returned high CT values, which means either his infection is in its early stages, nearing the end or that the case is historical.
Urgent genome testing is under way to get a better understanding of his infection.
“The case worked over Easter and appears to work night shifts over the Easter period,” Dr Bloomfield said.
“He was not at work yesterday and did not visit anyone yesterday. If and when locations of interest are identified, we will notify those.”
Ms Berejiklian said she “doesn’t worry” about outbreaks of this nature.
“I don’t worry about outbreaks which can be managed. We should expect that during a pandemic and having the inconsistency and uncertainty of sudden border closures does not help anybody,” she said.
“We all need to step up and demonstrate greater confidence in our health systems.”
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the two-way travel bubble would start on April 19.
But the plan came with a warning to prospective travellers that there could be disruptions at any time.
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