Niagara-area hospitals will resume day surgeries and outpatient procedures on Tuesday.

Ontario hospitals were given the go-ahead to gradually resume non-urgent surgeries and procedures last week, as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions trending down.

The province ordered hospitals to pause elective and non-emergent surgeries last month.

READ MORE: Ontario hospitals to ramp down elective surgeries amid increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations

“Although our teams are eager to reintroduce these services and address our backlog, we will need to be cautious and innovative with our efforts,” said Dr. Johan Viljoen, Chief of Staff at Niagara Health.

While hospitalizations appear to be trending downward, ICUs continue to be under “significant pressure,” he said.

Hospitals in Hamilton and Halton have not announced a specific date for restarting these procedures but say they are working on a plan.

“The daily case numbers we are seeing now are equal to the number reported during the peak of the second wave,” said Eric Vandewall, President & CEO Joseph Brant Hospital.

“Ontario’s hospital occupancy rate is still very high and it will take time for this rate to decrease to acceptable levels.”