Coronavirus: Calls for elective surgeries to resume as NZ moves to alert level 3

There are calls for elective surgeries to be ramped up with thousands of patients left waiting during the alert level 4 lockdown.

Non-urgent surgeries have been postponed to keep people safe and away from hospitals over COVID-19 fears but surgeons say they can't wait forever.

Dr Chris Jackson, the medical director for the Cancer Society, says that was the right thing to do four weeks ago but things have changed.

"We had to reduce demand on the system in case we got this massive wave like we saw overseas," Dr Jackson told Newshub.

"That hasn't happened so we can now increase the capacity and the workings of the health system."

Things like orthopaedic and cataract surgeries and diagnostics have been deferred. 

The exact number isn't known but Ministry of Health figures show there were 144,000 elective surgeries last year - so on average around 12,000 in a month.

Newshub understands some hospitals have been carrying out fewer than half the number of surgeries they normally would, doing only acute and non-deferrable surgeries.

The question is when does the risk of delaying surgery outweigh the risk of COVID-19?

Dr Jackson says even during this final week of level 4 he expects more operations and more diagnostic procedures to be done.

"We cannot stay at this level of health service provision indefinitely, that would be harmful, that would be the wrong thing to do."

Thousands of patients who are waiting to hear when they will get their delayed surgery, should get more detail from the Ministry of Health this week.