New Zealand has paused its newly opened travel bubble with Australia, the government in Wellington said, after a Covid-19 outbreak in its larger neighbour.

“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.

The decision came after Western Australia announced that the regions of Perth and Peel were entering a three-day lockdown, starting midnight Friday to Saturday, due to a traveller testing positive for the coronavirus.