Countries are again being confronted with a surge in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations. Scaling up health workforce capacity for COVID-19 patients is therefore of utmost importance. Increasing workloads, rapid redeployment and emotional distress, however, may affect the mental health of workers and the ability of health systems to handle the pandemic. Measures to ensure adequate staffing levels and to support the wellbeing of the health workforce are therefore crucial for there to be an effective crisis response. This webinar focuses on understanding what can be learned from the first pandemic wave when health systems protected health workers while maintaining surge capacity.