Editorial: Should we be re‐starting elective surgery? (6 November 2020)

Summary

In this Anaesthesia editorial, Simoes and Bhangu, on behalf of the CovidSurg Collaborative, outline why and how elective surgery must restart.

"COVID‐19‐free pathways will be crucial for patient safety during the COVID‐19 pandemic, as they seem to lead to low rates of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection rates and complications. Further preventive measures and patient level risk assessment will allow surgery to safely restart and continue during this, and future, crises."

This editorial accompanies an article by Kane et al. Anaesthesia 2020; 75: 1596–1604.