An optimized workflow is mandatory to restore surgical care to the population in the ‘new‐normal’ of COVID‐19 pandemic1-3. Our hospital was the largest tertiary centre in Beijing that continued to provide full‐ranged surgical care from January 26 through April 29. We have received 99 809 surgical outpatients and 4376 emergencies, and 5378 surgeries have been performed. We herein introduce our modified workflow based on gateway screening, fever clinic and observational ward (Fig. 1).