The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent global lockdowns led to a drastic fall in the number of operations performed. To reorganize healthcare facilities and workforce management, elective surgeries were deferred indefinitely at the beginning of pandemic. This affected emergency operations as well1. The World Bank, in the third edition of Disease Control Priorities, has grouped some of these emergency operations as ‘essential’, implying that they need to be performed to avert l.5 million deaths globally per year2. Cesarean births, exploratory laparotomies and fracture fixation surgeries are considered bellwether procedures when surgical care delivery is considered. Intensive care facilities were either used or reserved for patients with COVID-19 infection, further limiting surgical care. A research consortium led by the WHO Collaboration Centre for Research in Surgical Care Delivery in Low- and Middle-Income Countries, India, conducted a multicentre surgical audit to quantify the reduction in emergency operations and Bellwether procedures in India. A total of 4396 surgeries were performed at these centres in April 2019, compared with 1216 in April 2020. Emergency and elective operations were reduced by 54 and 91 per cent respectively. Caesarean sections were the least affected of all essential operations, and were reduced by 29.7 per cent. Fracture surgeries were reduced by 85.3 per cent. Laparotomies and operations for local soft-tissue infections with necrotic tissue were reduced by 71.7 and 69.5 per cent respectively.