Australia seeks to ease COVID-19 test rules as cases hit records

Australia will seek to make urgent changes to COVID-19 testing rules to ease pressure on test sites as infections surged and the country's most populous state reported a near doubling in daily cases. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Wednesday Australia needed 'a gear change' to manage overburdened laboratories and get people out of isolation. He called a snap meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday. 'We just can't have everybody just being taken out of circulation because they just happen to be at a particular place at a particular time,' Morrison said during a media briefing.