Testing blitz shows Australian coronavirus cluster contained in Sydney's northeast

Vehicles queue while medical personnel administer tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Bondi Beach drive-through testing centre as the city experiences an outbreak in Sydney, Australia, December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's most populous state on Tuesday reported its lowest one-day rise in new COVID-19 cases in nearly a week, fuelling optimism that contact tracing and social distancing were working to bring a dangerous new outbreak in Sydney under control.

New South Wales (NSW) reported eight new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down on 15 reported one day earlier. Seven of the new cases were traced to a cluster in Sydney's northern beachside suburbs, officials said.