Study Objective The risks to surgeons of carrying out aerosol generating procedures during the COVID pandemic are unknown . To start to define these risks, in a systematic manner, we investigated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the abdominal fluid and lower genital tract of patients undergoing surgery . Design A prospective cross sectional observational study . Setting A single large UK Hospital Patients O 113 patients undergoing abdominal surgery or instrumentation of the lower genital tract. Interventions We took COVID swabs from the peritoneal cavity and from the vagina from all eligible patients . Results were stratified by pre operative COVID status . Measurements and Main Results In patients who were presumed COVID negative at the time of surgery SARS-CoV-2 virus RNA was detected in 0/102 peritoneal samples and 0/98 vaginal samples . Both cohorts included four patients who were antibody positive but nasopharyngeal sab test negative at the time of surgery . Peritoneal and vaginal swabs were also negative in one patient who had a positive nasopharyngeal swab immediately prior to surgery . Conclusions The presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the abdominal fluid or lower genital tract of presumed negative patients is nil or extremely low . These data will inform surgeons of the risks of restarting laparoscopic surgery at a time when COVID19 is endemic in the population . Brief funding statement There was no external funding of this study