Ontario hospitals have been given permission to resume non-urgent surgeries and procedures as the number of COVID-19 infections declines.
The province's top doctor says in a memo that he is rescinding an emergency order issued April 20 that told hospitals to temporarily cease the procedures amid an onslaught of cases.
Dr. David Williams says that daily COVID-19 rates, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions appear to be trending downward.
He says some of the province's hospitals now have capacity to resume cancelled procedures and notes that it's important to limit the long-term negative impact of waiting for non-urgent care.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott says the resumption of non-urgent procedures won't be uniform across the province since it's dependent on a hospital's capacity.
Last week, Ontario's fiscal watchdog said it will take the province approximately three and a half years to clear the surgical backlog from the COVID-19 pandemic.