As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to loosen its initial grip on the globe and we contemplate starting the long road back towards normalcy, the medical community will be facing many challenges, none more paramount than preventing the further spread of COVID-19 and limiting the possibility and the extent of a potential ‘second wave.’ 

The purpose of this document is to provide a list of recommendations aimed at reducing pathogen transfer during the reintroduction of elective orthopaedic surgeries, with a specific focus on preventing spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although we are assuming that we will be operating on patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection, because of the complexities involved in accurate diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including false negative results of the RT-PCR tests, we believe precautions need to be in place that will minimize the chance of infection transmission by potentially infected patients.