Coronaviruses are a large group of viruses known to cause illnesses that vary between the common cold and more severe diseases to include severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). A novel coronavirus was identified in December 2019 in Wuhan city, Hubei province, China. This virus represents a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. The virus is now known as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the resulting disease is called coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic in March 2020. Despite rigorous global containment and quarantine efforts, the incidence of COVID19 continues to rise, with more than 1,948,617 laboratory-confirmed cases and over 121,846 deaths worldwide. Currently, no specific medication is recommended to treat COVID-19 patients. However, governments and pharmaceutical companies are struggling to quickly find an effective drug to defeat the coronavirus. In the current review, we summarize the existing state of knowledge about COVID-19, available medications, and treatment options. Favilavir is an antiviral drug that is approved in Japan for common influenza treatment and is now approved to treat symptoms of COVID-19 in China. Moreover, Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, drugs used to treat malaria and arthritis, respectively, were recommended by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China for treatment of COVID-19. Presently, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are under investigation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for COVID-19. The first COVID-19 vaccine is not expected to be ready for clinical trials before the end of the year.

Introduction

In the second week of December 2019, unknown viral infection was identified in a small local fish and wild animal market in Wuhan city, Hubei province in China (Lu et al., 2020). Since this time, the virus has rapidly spread across mainland China, and now has reached other countries (Li et al., 2020a; Chen et al., 2020a). In the early stages of this virus spread, several cases of pneumonia of unknown etiology were reported. Patients have been diagnosed with severe acute respiratory infection symptoms and others with rapidly developing acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute respiratory failure and other serious complications leading to death (Nijuan et al., 2013). The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) identified this infection as a novel coronavirus infection on Jan 7, 2020 and on Feb 11, 2020, the WHO announced a new name for the epidemic disease as 2019-new coronavirus disease (2019-nCoV and now known as COVID19) (Organization, W.H., 2020). Additionally, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named 2019-nCoV as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 has become a major global health concern and the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic on March 2020 (Whitworth, 2020). As of April 14, 2020, COVID-19 has affected more than 1,948,617 patients in 210 countries and territories around the world and two international conveyances and left around 121,846 deaths worldwide.