The recommended treatment for low-risk papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) (excluding sub-centimeter nodules) has historically been surgery. However, there are no specific recommendations regarding the timeline to surgery, and in the context of active surveillance becoming a safe alternative in some patients, we will review the data on the safety of delaying surgery. This is a prudent time to investigate the question of surgical delay following the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a delay of all non-urgent procedures, providing new data for retrospective review. While there is limited historical data on this subject, we will review recent studies examining surgical delay across several timepoints: <90 days, 91–180 days, and >180 days. Overall, we conclude that it is safe to delay surgery for low-risk PTC for up to 90 days, however more high-quality studies would be required for a strong recommendation to delay surgery for >90 days. We would not recommend delaying surgery >180 days (6 months), as evidence shows that this may pose an increased risk of overall mortality and disease specific mortality. More data is required to comment on recurrence rates specifically.