COVID super strain: Flight pre-testing possible after variant reaches Australia on Sunshine Coast

A highly infectious variant of COVID-19 has reached Australia and is spreading rapidly around the world.

However, the nation’s chief medical officer says the hotel quarantine system should still prevent its entry into the community.

Sydney, meanwhile, is staring down the barrel of a broader COVID-19 outbreak after a new unsourced cluster in inner-west Sydney’s Croydon was uncovered.

NSW recorded 18 locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm on Tuesday – only nine of which are…