Restarting more routine hospital activities during COVID-19: approaches from six countries. (Special Issue: COVID-19 health system response.)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals face the concurrent challenges of maintaining routine services while attending to COVID-19 patients This article shares approaches taken in six countries to resume hospital care after the first wave of the pandemic by surveying country experts and using data extracted from the COVID-19 Health Systems Response Monitor (HSRM) Four strategies were observed in all six countries: prioritisation or rationing of treatments, converting clinical spaces to separate patients, using virtual treatments, and implementing COVID-19 free hospitals or floors Clear guidance about how to prioritise activities would support hospitals in the next phases of the pandemic