On March 18, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recommended cancellation of non-essential procedures “to conserve critical resources such as ventilators and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), while limiting the spread of COVID-19.” Following nudging by American College of Surgeons, the U.S. Surgeon General and the CDC. The rationale was simple: to make space and frontline personnel available for anticipated Covid-19 surge, non-emergent procedures and tests in hospitals should be suspended to allow time for hospitals to prepare. Hospitals cut staff. They cancelled surgeries. They invested in infection controls, studied coronavirus patient care protocols and watched the surge in New York City speculating where it might hit next.