the province has lifted its temporarily ban on non-emergent and non-urgent surgeries and procedures in hospitals and in community settings.
dr. david williams, ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said in a release wednesday that lower case counts and hospitalizations have led to an easing of conditions in health centres.
“at this point in time, new cases, hospitalizations, and icu admissions appear to be trending downward,” williams said.
“while these numbers remain high and we continue to see demand for health services related to covid-19, we are beginning to see available capacity among community and hospital partners in some areas of the province. it is therefore important to make use of this available capacity to limit the long-term impacts on patients awaiting non-urgent care.”
“directive #2,” which had restricted non-urgent surgeries, had been in place since april 20.
meanwhile, ontario reported 1,588 new covid-19 cases on wednesday, and 19 new deaths.
toronto, with 524 new cases, peel, with 335, remained the province’s worst-hit regions.
the new figures raise ontario’s total number of covid cases since january 2020 to 514,690 and its death toll to 8,525. there are 23,416 active cases.