Operating during the COVID-19 pandemic: How to reduce medical error

Our professional and private lives changed on March 11 2020 when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the WHO. By March 16, surgical training was suspended, MRCS and FRCS examinations cancelled and all courses postponed. In theory, essential cancer surgery, emergency and trauma operating will continue. All elective, non-essential cases are currently cancelled. While we adapt to our new ways of working, we remind ourselves that surgeons are flexible, resilient and, ultimately, we are doctors in the first instance. We present a short article on operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. (C) 2020 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.