The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global public health matter that has had a serious impact on health systems globally, specially to those which were deficient at the very beginning in providing information in order to offer an effective response to a highly contagious disease and with health personnel without sufficient preparation and equipment necessary to minimize the risks of contagion.

In this context, new issues have been created, particularly those linked to emergency surgeries and unpostponable surgeries, in patients with suspicion or confirmation of this infection and, from there, the possible measures to be adopted with respect to the safety of medical equipment due to the high risk of contamination during the surgery.

Prioritizing of surgeries in cancer cases has represented a hard task because the physicians must balance a possible delay in the diagnosis or treatment of cancer with a high risk of possible exposure to the COVID-19.

Surgery in times of COVID-19 has allowed the development of surgical safety checklist criteria adapted to patients with this disease by including good practice standards related to COVID-19 infection in the context of a safe surgery environment.

It is imperative currently to think on measures adopted in our institution: what actions do we assume in surgery for patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection?, do we have protocols or standards of action that consider the safety of surgical equipment in a highly contaminated surgery conditions due to SARS-CoV-2?, among other considerations.

Experience should lead us to consider the routine implementation of protocols for safe surgery practices in order to ensure that surgical teams systematically adopt safety measures that minimize avoidable risks that endanger surgical patients and healthcare professionals.