INTRODUCTION
On March 14, 2020, the government of Spain declared a State of Alarm across the country with a decree that imposed extremely strict conditions and, in practice, instituted a national lockdown. All healthcare-related matters fell under the direct orders of the Minister of Health, although certain possibilities for managing the corresponding health services were granted to the regional and local public administrations. In practice, all material and human health resources were devoted exclusively to the fight against the pandemic, and all scheduled surgical activities were canceled.
The Spanish Society of Cardiovascular and Endovascular Surgery (SECCE) reacted expeditiously to the new situation created by the pandemic and established a series of recommendations1 to ensure care in different healthcare dimensions: emergencies, surgical prioritization of preferential patients, safe delay of elective patients, and adaptation of ECMO programs in the context of COVID-19.