Signs that the number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is starting to plateau across the state will soon result in the slow return of non-urgent hospital services, including those offered at regional NSW.

The state government have today (Tuesday 1 February) announced amendments to its temporary suspension on non-urgent elective surgery requiring an overnight stay.

This temporary suspension was first put into place for both private and public hospitals on 10 January, with the government saying it was necessary to ensure sufficient staffing and hospital bed capacity during the heights of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.

However, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said with hospitalisations due to the virus stabilising across the state, there was now room to slowly introduce these services again.

“I am pleased to announce that from next week (Monday 7 February) non-urgent elective surgery will resume at private hospitals and in some of our public hospitals that are in a position to do so in regional and rural NSW,” Mr Perrottet said.

According to the government, capacity for overnight stays following elective surgery at these regional public hospitals will be up to 75 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in some locations.

Minister for Regional Health Bronnie Taylor said people in regional NSW would be pleased to see a resumption in non-urgent elective surgery as we return to a normal operating environment.

“It’s been a challenging time, but our doctors and nurses and support staff have worked tirelessly in our regional hospitals to support people in need of urgent care,” Mrs Taylor said.

“More of our workforce is returning and this will mean our public hospitals will be in a position to restore non-urgent services, and I thank the people of regional NSW for their patience.”

At the same time, acting Deputy Secretary of NSW Health Wayne Jones said it was important to note LHDs might re-impose temporary restrictions where necessary in the event of a local outbreak to ensure the community could still access hospital care if required.

Hospitalisations due to COVID in the Western NSW Local Health District (WNSWLHD) have remained mostly consistent over the past week, with 26 people in hospital across the district up to 8pm last night, three of which were in intensive care.

The region also recorded its first death in months with one patient in Dubbo passing away in the past 24 hours.

New positive test results were also mostly consistent with recent days with 157 new positive PCR test results and 302 positive Rapid Antigen Test results in the district.

Of these, one was in the Bogan shire, two were in Bourke, 14 in Cobar, eight in Coonamble, five in Gilgandra, four in Lachlan shire, 10 in Narromine, five in Walgett and six in Warrumbungle.