Australia’s COVID numbers surge amid Djokovic fallout

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia has seen another day of rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations amid fears that changes to testing requirements could mask the full scale of the outbreak. The country reported 72,000 cases nationwide Thursday, up from 64,000 a day earlier, while hospitalizations jumped to 3,267 from 2,990, and patients in intensive care rose to 208 from 196. At a news conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended a new policy that Australians no longer will need to take a PCR test to confirm a positive rapid antigen test. Morrison also faced questions about the Australia Border Force’s decision to revoke a visa granted to Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic ahead of the Australian Open.