Another important milestone to reopening New York has been reached as hospitals received the green light to begin performing elective surgeries again.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement over the weekend that most hospitals in New York can allow their doctors to begin performing elective surgeries and that includes hospitals in the Hudson Valley.

Elective surgeries include procedures such as colonoscopies, joint replacements, and breast biopsies.

In mid-March, Gov. Cuomo halted elective surgeries statewide to ensure there were enough hospital beds and medical staff available to handle the surge in COVID-19 cases. But the governor says we are now past that period.

Officials from Northwell Health, New York's largest health care provider, say they alone now have a backlog of more than 10,000 elective surgeries that were postponed because of the COVID-19 epidemic, with many of those cases in Westchester County. 

"We have a safe pathway, and hospitals that are resuming elective surgeries have similarly created pathways whereby we keep people separate that are coming in for elective surgery from anyone that may have COVID-19," says Dr. Nick Fitterman, executive director at Huntington Hospital. 

Doctors say they can only delay care for so long before patients begin to deteriorate, and holding off could result in longterm negative health implications for patients. They say that's why it's important to get these surgeries back on track as soon as possible. "We want to make sure people who need medical services are getting medical services," says Gov. Cuomo.