The news was expected to provide relief for the beleaguered tourism sector in Queensland - known as Australia's Sunshine State for its inviting weather - with the popular destination now fully open to visitors just ahead of Easter holidays beginning on Friday.
However, Bluesfest, a major music festival in Byron Bay, was cancelled just hours ahead of its planned start on Thursday after a positive case linked to the Brisbane outbreak was recorded in the New South Wales coastal town.Australia has been relatively successful in curbing the spread of COVID-19, with only one nationwide lockdown during the pandemic so far and most regions now enjoying few restrictions.
The country has reported around 30,000 COVID-19 cases and fewer than 1,000 deaths in total out of a population of 25 million - including those detected in quarantine for overseas travellers. But it is one of the few wealthy nations to have an extremely limited vaccination roll-out, with the roughly 700,000 doses administered to date falling far short of an initial plan to jab 4 million people by the end of March.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
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