Health authorities will begin to ease restrictions on elective surgery from next week in a move that will allow the government to start winding back some of its promised assistance to private hospitals.
Scott Morrison hailed the decision as “another step on the way back” to normal life in Australia.
But the prime minister said the national cabinet was growing increasingly concerned about the wellbeing of isolated older Australians given that some aged care facilities had imposed strict bans on visitors.
After hosting his latest regular teleconference with state and territory leaders on Tuesday, Morrison confirmed some elective surgery procedures would begin to resume across the public and private hospital sectors from Monday next week.
These would include category two and some important category three procedures, along with IVF and screening programs for cancer and other diseases. Also included are post-cancer reconstruction procedures, joint replacements, cataracts and eye procedures, endoscopy and colonoscopy, and any patients aged under 18.
The shape of the “gradual restart” might vary from state to state depending on capacity constraints, but could see a resumption of about 25% of elective surgery activity in private and public hospitals.
“This is an important decision because it marks another step on the way back,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. “There is a road back.”
Authorities will review the situation on 11 May and weigh up whether further surgeries and procedures could recommence. That is the same date Victoria’s state of emergency is due to end, but Morrison said not to “read too much into that” when pressed on whether it might be a turning point in easing restrictions more generally.
The step will allow the federal government to wind down some of its previously announced funding support for the private hospital sector, which had sought a lifeline after the suspension of non-urgent elective surgery.
The Australian Private Hospitals Association chief executive, Michael Roff, told Guardian Australia: “The viability guarantee payments are reduced by the same amount as any external revenue, so the more privately insured work private hospitals do, the less they are paid under the viability guarantee.”
Stephen Duckett, the health program director at the Grattan Institute, said the commonwealth had committed to compensate the private hospital industry for their standby costs, such as the cost of leasing property and keeping open.
“The commonwealth will save money with this decision but of course the private health insurers will have to start paying for the costs of the elective surgeries that take place in these hospitals,” he said.
The government argues the resumption of such surgeries is possible because it has secured more personal protective equipment – such as masks – for health workers.
The announcement was a bright spot on a day of bleak economic news, with Virgin Australia going into administration and the Reserve Bank of Australia predicting Australia faced the biggest contraction since the Great Depression.
Australia has so far had more than 6,600 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 72 deaths.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, credited Australia with achieving “a sustained and consolidated flattening of the curve” with less than 1% growth in Covid-19 cases for nine consecutive days.
Morrison said he and state and territory leaders were concerned some aged care facilities had imposed restrictions over and above what was recommended by the national cabinet.
“There is great concern that the isolation of elderly people in residential care facilities where they have been prevented from having any visits from loved ones and support people is not good for their wellbeing, is not good for their health,” he said.
The prime minister said the national cabinet had never intended to “shut people off or to lock them away in their rooms”.
Email: sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter
App: download it and never miss the biggest stories
Social: follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter
Podcast: listen to our daily episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or search "Full Story" in your favourite app
Leaders reaffirmed that any visits should be limited to a short duration, a maximum of two visitors at one time per day, and conducted in line with physical-distancing rules. But facilities should turn away any visitor or staff member who had a fever or symptoms such as cough, sore throat, runny nose or shortness of breath.
More stringent restrictions could also be put in place at facilities that have battled to contain outbreaks.
The chief medical officer, Prof Brendan Murphy, called on aged care providers to “be proportionate” and said the best protection was to ensure nobody entered if they were unwell.
“It’s not reasonable or fair to people who may have been used to getting their family coming every day, who may even have dementia in some cases, to be denied access to their families,” Murphy said.
Morrison said the same principle applied more generally in the community: older people who were self-isolating could still receive visits for care and compassionate reasons.
