Australia posts zero virus cases, state chief calls for 'Pacific bubble'

FILE PHOTO: A police officer watches an entrance to a quarantine hotel, where returning travelers are kept in isolation for a period to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as a patient transport service vehicle departs in Sydney, Australia, August 21, 2020. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia recorded a fourth day of zero coronavirus cases on Thursday, prompting the chief of the country's most populous state to call for a special travel "bubble" with Pacific island nations.

New South Wales has reined in an outbreak in mid-December that prompted a strict lockdown in Sydney's Northern Beaches, while broader social distancing rules and mandatory mask wearing were imposed for the rest of the city.