Australia's COVID-19 testing facilities were severely stretched on Thursday amid a record surge in cases and as tens of thousands of domestic travelers thronged the centers to get test results necessary to travel interstate for Christmas.

Most states require travelers to have a negative test result 72 hours before departure in order to be allowed entry, even as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged them to ease the testing requirement, which he said was redirecting resources that could be used to ramp up the rollout of the booster shots.

More than 8,200 new cases were reported in Australia on Thursday, the biggest daily rise in the pandemic, eclipsing the previous high of some 5,600 a day earlier. The bulk of cases are in its most populous states of New South Wales and Victoria.