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2019 (COVID-19), has caused a global pandemic that may infect millions in the United States alone. Given the baseline rate of emergency operations in the United States, 1 thousands of COVID-19-positive patients are likely to require surgical interventions during this outbreak.

Surgeons’ obligation, as always, will be to provide timely, high-quality surgical care that achieves the best outcomes for patients. But if surgical teams are not adequately protected from virus transmission during the COVID-19 outbreak, our health systems’ capacity to provide necessary care will collapse as more clinicians are forced into quarantine. Moreover, protecting those who care for the acutely ill and injured is the ethical decision to prevent anxiety and attrition.