NJ Suspending Elective Surgeries Amid Coronavirus Spread

TRENTON, NJ — As the pressure grows on the state's health care system to treat seriously ill patients due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus, all elective surgeries and other invasive procedures are being canceled, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday.

Murphy said the suspension of all elective surgeries and invasive procedures performed on adults takes effect Friday at 5 p.m. and applies to all medical and dental operations that can be delayed "undue risk to the current or future health of the patient, as determined by the patient’s physician or dentist."

The suspension aims to ease the stress on the system and conserve personal protective gear, which has become increasingly in short supply throughout the country.

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"Our new reality calls for aggressive action to reduce the burden on our health care system and protect our frontline medical responders," Murphy said. "Given the dramatic shortfall in personal protective equipment we face, it’s imperative that we work with our partners in health care to strategically preserve supplies and equipment for emergency purposes only."

As of Monday afternoon, there were 2,844 positive tests for COVID-19 in New Jersey, and 27 people have died from it, according to the state health department. The numbers have been rising in part due to expanded testing, including at new drive-through testing centers.

COVID-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

The state also is asking any business, college or university, or any non-hospital health care facility to take inventory of its personal protective equipment, along with ventilators, respirators, or anesthesia machines not needed for critical health care services.

The inventory of these supplies is to be reported to the state by 5 p.m. Friday, Murphy's order said.

Any patient whose elective surgery is canceled is to be notified by their doctor or dentist.

Any doctor or dentist planning an in-office invasive or surgical procedure "must consider the potential burden of post-surgery complications on local hospitals prior to performing any operation," the order said.

It also makes an explicit exemption for pregnancy terminations and family planning services.

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