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Source: https://www.newsday.com/news/health/coronavirus/covid-19-virus-long-island-ny-updates-1.50095819
New York City suspends elective surgeries to free up hospitals for COVID-19 patients
Updated December 17, 2020 2:05 PM
This story was reported by Robert Brodsky, Bart Jones and Joie Tyrrell. It was written by Jones.
New York City is suspending elective surgeries in its public hospitals because of a rising number of COVID-19 patients and fears the hospitals could become overwhelmed, according to officials.
The city stopped the elective surgeries on Tuesday, the head of the hospital system, Dr. Mitch Katz, said Thursday.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has told hospitals statewide to suspend elective surgeries if they are concerned their facilities may be perilously close to reaching or surpassing capacity because of an influx of COVID-19 patients.
Some locations upstate have already done so.
Cuomo has also said that entire regions could be shut if hospitals can't cope with the number of coronavirus patients.
The moves come as the state experiences a second surge of cases with numbers on par with some of the worst days of the pandemic's peak in April. Cuomo and other health officials have attributed the new wave to indoor gatherings in people's homes that started with Thanksgiving and is expected to last through the holiday season and into mid-January at a minimum...
New York City suspends elective surgeries to free up hospitals for COVID-19 patients
Updated December 17, 2020 2:05 PM
This story was reported by Robert Brodsky, Bart Jones and Joie Tyrrell. It was written by Jones.
New York City is suspending elective surgeries in its public hospitals because of a rising number of COVID-19 patients and fears the hospitals could become overwhelmed, according to officials.
The city stopped the elective surgeries on Tuesday, the head of the hospital system, Dr. Mitch Katz, said Thursday.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has told hospitals statewide to suspend elective surgeries if they are concerned their facilities may be perilously close to reaching or surpassing capacity because of an influx of COVID-19 patients.
Some locations upstate have already done so.
Cuomo has also said that entire regions could be shut if hospitals can't cope with the number of coronavirus patients.
The moves come as the state experiences a second surge of cases with numbers on par with some of the worst days of the pandemic's peak in April. Cuomo and other health officials have attributed the new wave to indoor gatherings in people's homes that started with Thanksgiving and is expected to last through the holiday season and into mid-January at a minimum...