The Ontario government has released ground rules to help hospitals get back to performing surgeries.
Premier Doug Ford says timelines will vary from hospital to hospital and be conditional on approval by regional oversight tables involved with planning and coordinating Ontario's response to COVID-19.
The framework, called 'A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic', states hospital must have a stable number of COVID-19 cases, and an adequate capacity of inpatient and intensive care unit beds.
It also states that hospitals should have enough personal protective equipment, and medications before conducting surgeries once again.
As a first step, hospitals will need to assess if there is adequate staffing, equipment and other resources to resume scheduled care.