Australia's New South Wales marks downward trend in new COVID-19 cases

Australia's most populous state of New South Wales (NSW) maintained its steady downward trend in new COVID-19 infections on Thursday as it battles to quash a virus cluster in the northern coastal suburbs of Sydney, the state capital.

New South Wales reported nine new COVID-19 local cases versus eight a day earlier, taking the total cases in the cluster to more than 100.

NSW on Wednesday slightly eased coronavirus restrictions for the Christmas period after new daily cases slowed in recent days, though around a quarter of a million people in Sydney remained under lockdown.