Coronavirus Australia: All non-urgent elective surgeries suspended

The PM said the decision allows for resources such as personal protection equipment to be preserved to handle the coronavirus outbreak.

All non-urgent elective surgery will be suspended later tonight, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced.

He said the National Cabinet accepted the recommendation from medical experts to cease the surgeries to free up resources to handle the coronavirus outbreak.

“From today, midnight, March 25 until further notice, all elective surgery other than Category 1 and urgent, and I stress, urgent Category 2 cases will be suspended,” he said on Wednesday.

“This will apply in both the public and the private hospital system.

“Cancellation of elective surgery will allow the preservation of resources like personal protective equipment and allow health services to prepare for their role in the COVID-19 outbreak.”

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a press conference late on Tuesday night and again at midday on Wednesday.

He said it had already been “largely implemented”.

“What this means is a further scaling back of those elective surgeries in Category 2,” Mr Morrison said.

Elective surgery is defined by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare as “planned surgery that can be booked in advance as a result of a specialist clinical assessment and the patient being placed on a waiting list”.

There were 758,136 admissions from elective surgery waiting lists in 2018-19, according to the AIHW.

Cataract surgery was the most common procedure for admissions.

Victoria’s Health Minister Jenny Mikakos reiterated that it will not affect emergency surgery or Category 1 elective surgeries.

“Including those booked in as part of our elective surgery blitz, which are considered the most urgent, including heart, neurological and cancer procedures,” she said on Wednesday.

Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos on Wednesday, March 25. Picture: Stefan Postles/AAP

She said the state government hoped to “resume a blitz as soon as the peak of the pandemic is over”.

“Once hospitals can recover from the significant increase in demand that we are anticipating in coming weeks,” Ms Mikakos said.