01:18

Western Australia is cancelling or rescheduling most non-urgent elective surgery from today, in an effort to preserve face masks and other personal protective equipment.



After today, patients will no longer be able to book category 2 or 3 elective surgery, including dental procedures done at public hospitals. And from tomorrow, all booked category 3 patients will be cancelled, while category 2 patients will be reviewed and will only proceed if deemed urgent.



Category 1 elective surgery – “defined as urgent with the potential to become an emergency” – will continue.



Health minister Roger Cook said cancelling non-urgent elective surgery was “essential to ensure we have access to the right protective equipment to protect our staff who care for patients with Covid-19”.



He added:

