COVID-19 emergency orders aimed at preserving hospital capacity during the height of the third wave, including allowing hospitals to resume non-urgent surgeries that require inpatient and critical care services.Hospitals can also no longer transfer patients to long-term care or retirement homes without their consent, and home care and other health-care staff can no longer be redeployed to those homes.The orders were imposed in April, when the province’s hospitals were under immense pressure and had to move patients between facilities, redirect staff and cancel non-urgent procedures to ensure they had the capacity to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients.