Ontario non-urgent surgeries to gradually resume in Mississauga, Brampton, Hamilton, Halton, Niagara and Durham Region
Published February 10, 2022 at 3:30 pm
Hospitals in Mississauga, Brampton and across Ontario will soon be able to resume non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries under the province’s plan to ease COVID-19 restrictions.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Keiran Moore made the announcement on Thursday, saying the peak of Omicron variant cases in Ontario is behind the province.
The province is planning to lift Directive 2 to begin a “gradual and cautious resumption” of surgeries and procedures across the province.
Moore also said the province is working on a plan when “proof of vaccination can be discontinued” thanks to high vaccine coverage in the Ontario population.
Minister of Health Christine Elliott said resuming non-urgent procedures will follow a phased approach across the province, in alignment with guidance provided by Ontario Health.
“The evidence is showing we’re making remarkable improvement in all of the key metrics in Ontario, and that forces us to review all public health measures that are in place,” Moore said. “None of them are expected to remain in play longer than they need to be, or have a benefit to protect Ontarians.”
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Moore said he anticipates making more recommendations to the government as soon as next week.
The province also announced that effective immediately, Ontario students can once again benefit from extracurricular activities, including high-contact sports in schools.
Students and other participants will be required to wear a mask while on school premises but may temporarily remove their mask where required, to enable active participation in activities such as playing basketball or musical instruments.
Indoor curriculum-based programs including health and physical education and music, will continue with similar masking and other health and safety requirements in place.
On Jan. 5 the province reinstated Directive 2, pausing all non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures in order to preserve critical care and human resource capacity.
The directive was revised on Feb. 1 to resume certain clinical activities including diagnostic imaging, cancer screening, and non-urgent and emergent surgeries and procedures in paediatric specialty hospitals.
Since Ontario entered modified Step Two, over 202,000 Ontarians have received a first dose and 2,575,000 Ontarians have received their booster.
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