Elective surgeries can resume in New York City for the first time in 2½ months, Gov. Mario Cuomo announced Monday as the five boroughs began reopening from restrictions that limited activity in an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The operations, which the state of New York does not define by law, have been on hold since March 15, when Mayor Bill de Blasio ordered them postponed.
The vast majority of the surgical procedures listed as "elective," according to the American College of Surgeons in March, "are associated with progressive disease (such as cancer, vascular disease and organ failure) that will continue to progress at variable, disease-specific rates."
New York-Presbyterian, NYU Langone Health, Mount Sinai, and Northwell Health hospital systems all postponed or canceled elective procedures.
New York's largest healthcare group, Long Island-based Northwell Health, had 19,000 surgeries on backlog because of the restrictions, the New York Post reported.
It began resuming the non-emergency surgical operations last week, it said. Restrictions on Long Island were reduced earlier than New York City, the last location to ease prohibitions. Long Island will enter "Phase Two" of the easing of restrictions Wednesday.
"In early May, we resumed so-called 'urgent surgeries' — such as cancer procedures and other surgeries that, if postponed more than 2-3 months, could result in long-term negative health implications for patients," an unidentified representative told the Post.
Of the 19,000 procedures Northwell delayed, the healthcare group has determined a priority list and will take until "midsummer" to clear them, the spokesman told the Post.
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