Australia has reported its first community transmission of the new Omicron coronavirus variant, but authorities held steady on a plan to reopen the economy amid hopes it would prove to be milder than previous strains.

The new case, a school student from Sydney, was the first confirmed Omicron infection of a person who had not travelled overseas, a sign the variant was now in the community, authorities in New South Wales state said, according to Reuters.

“Transmission is always a concern but we again need to keep it in perspective,” NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told reporters, explaining why Australia's most populous state was not reversing its staged reopening from strict lockdowns imposed in July due to the Delta variant.