The Ministry of Health is laying out guidelines for hospitals to resume thousands of surgical procedures that were put on hold March 15 due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Health Minister Christine Elliot says there is no timeline for when procedures will be allowed to resume, but it is “several weeks” away.
Elliot says it will be up to individual hospital and health regions to assess when they feel it’s safe to resume the surgeries, including hip and knee replacements.
But they will need to reserve 15 per cent of beds for patients with COVID-19 and meet a number of other criteria including a stable supply of personal protective equipment.
