South Australia will be the first state in the country to resume elective surgery as hospitals deal with a ballooning backlog of patients requiring medical procedures which were put on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of overdue elective surgeries tripled in SA as a result of COVID-19, but as of midnight on Wednesday, the restriction under the Emergency Management Declaration will be relaxed, which also applies to dentistry.
Health Minister Stephen Wade said the services' required shut down was the reason for the overdue spike.
He said the temporary halt was introduced to limit the spread of the virus and protect patients and staff.
"We have a significant challenge to recover from the pandemic," he said.
"We don't want to delay it longer than we need to (and) the department is asking hospitals to focus on their longest waits within the three urgency categories."
Elective surgery levels in public hospitals are predicted to normalise by mid-June, as long as they remain safe to do so.
Premier Steven Marshall said South Australians' progress in so far containing the virus as well as the stockpile increase of PPE enabled the restoration.
There have been 48,000 surgical masks and one million face masks secured, with another 45 million to be produced locally.
"I assure everyone waiting for elective surgery that we will move as quickly as possible to reduce the backlog caused by the pandemic but it will take time," Mr Marshall said.
"We are working with different hospitals and surgeons to schedule that elective surgery."
Australian Associated Press
