The perioperative surgical period was impacted to a much greater extent. This outcome is understandable when two-thirds of respondents were involved in the daily care of COVID-19 positive patients and even more in hospitals treating a large number of COVID-19 positive patients. Half of the respondents did not have access to full PPE when caring for these patients. These results are in line with the results of a survey of the Royal College of Surgeons where 57% of the responders described shortages of PPE [16]. PPE is clearly important for keeping health care professionals safe and well. Inadequate PPE was found to be a risk factor for COVID-19 infection among orthopaedic surgeons in Wuhan [17]. Given the fact that thoracic surgeons are exposed to aerosol-generating procedures, the risk may be much greater [18]. This observation, combined with the paucity of testing, means that health care workers continue to work with a sense of significant personal threat.