Australia's state of New South Wales (NSW) announced on Friday that non-urgent elective surgery will recommence at private facilities while the state recorded a second deadliest day for COVID cases this week.
The state health authorities announced that from October 5, private facilities will be able to perform day surgeries. Emergency surgery and urgent elective surgery will continue to be performed in public hospitals, and surgery restrictions will only be in place as long as necessary.
The state government is providing 30 million Australian dollars (about 21.6 million US dollars) to support private hospitals to undertake additional elective surgery to ensure that patients who have their elective surgery postponed will be scheduled for surgery as soon as possible.
The decision came as the state reported 864 locally acquired cases and 15 deaths in the 24 hours to 8:00 p.m. local time Thursday. It's the second time that NSW recorded 15 fatalities this week, marking the highest daily COVID death toll.
Meanwhile, the COVID outbreak in the neighbouring state of Victoria keeps intensifying, as the state reported 1,143 local cases and three deaths on Friday.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced all authorised workers in the state must have at least one dose of vaccine by October 15 to continue working on-site, and they will need to be fully vaccinated by November 26.
"It is critically important that we do not see these cases continue to climb and go up and up and up so that our hospital system is under immense pressure even before we open up," Andrews said. (ANI/Xinhua)
( With inputs from ANI )
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