The COVID-19 lockdown halted elective surgeries and moved most routine care online. This difficult step was necessary to save space in hospitals for those who needed immediate care and to make sure that our healthcare workers had sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE). However, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that this precaution had an unintended consequence: even people who needed immediate care stayed away from emergency rooms for fear of contracting COVID-19.