#New York hospitals can resume elective surgeries: Hochul

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Thursday that New York hospitals can resume performing elective surgeries and procedures thanks to a decrease in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations tied to the virus.

Hochul signed an executive order in December that mandated hospitals cancel all non-emergency surgeries in regions with high coronavirus positivity rates amidst the Omicron variant’s spread.

The measure was also implemented to free up facilities experiencing staffing shortages.

“We really were under tremendous stress. As you all know, we had to take some extraordinary steps and that was to identify the hardest hit areas – the ones that needed the most help,” said Hochul during a Westchester-based press conference. 

Hospitals at or below 10 percent of available staffed bed capacity were ordered to pause non-essential surgeries, per the directive which remains in effect.

“The great news is all of our hospitals are off the list,” she added. 

“I want to thank all the hospitals who had to go through tremendous stress. They were there with us.”

She noted the Empire State’s “hospitalizations are trending down” to around 2,200 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 on a daily average, compared to mid-January’s peak of roughly 12,000 individuals. 

Hochul also said there hasn’t been a spike in cases since she lifted the statewide “mask-or-vax” mandate for private businesses earlier this month. 

“We’ve not seen an increase in cases, which is what we’ve been monitoring very closely,” she explained.

The governor reiterated that she’ll reassess New York’s face covering requirement for kids, teachers and staff in schools next week.