Australia suspended its travel bubble with New Zealand for another 72 hours after two more cases of Covid-19 were reported in Auckland.
New Zealand health officials are investigating the cases, which are linked to a woman who was likely infected with the South African variant of the virus while in mandatory isolation at a quarantine hotel for returned overseas travelers. The facility has been closed to new arrivals.
The suspension of the bubble underlines the difficulties of restarting broad international travel even between countries such as New Zealand and Australia that have been highly successful in limiting community transmission of the virus.
