Australia’s New South Wales sees deadliest day of pandemic

SYDNEY (AP) — Australia’s New South Wales state has reported 16 deaths in its deadliest day of the pandemic, even as it relaxed rules to allow essential workers in isolation to return to work if they are asymptomatic. Just over 30,000 new cases were reported in Australia’s most populous state on Sunday, forcing those people to join more than 200,000 others in isolation. No statistics are kept to determine how many of those are essential workers in the food and manufacturing sectors. But some employers say up to half of their workers have been furloughed after coming into contact with a positive case.