Elective surgeries have been markedly reduced or even halted altogether in countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of which is unprecedented in modern medicine.

The pandemic will negatively affect many individuals’ health due to reductions in physical activity, suboptimal diets, increased substance use, decreased control of co-morbid conditions, and deterioration in mental health.

Predictably, some patients waiting for surgery will experience a decline in their health from pre-pandemic baseline—potentially affecting surgical risk.

Thus, there is a window of opportunity to consider greater implementation of surgical prehabilitation.

Patients awaiting elective surgery can be grossly subdivided into two groups: (1) No history of covid-19 infection or (2) recovered from proven, suspected, or presumed COVID-19 infection.

For Group 1 patients who were not infected with COVID-19, physical distancing recommendations may lead to reduction in physical activity.

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