**1. Introduction**

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become the fifth pandemic reported since 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. COVID-19 first reported in December 2019, Wuhan, China and is caused by a virus called severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) It is an enveloped and spherical virus containing a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome and belongs to the subfamily Coronavirinae. Like many other respiratory viruses, coronavirus is transmitted through droplets projected out during breath, cough or sneeze. The symptoms of respiratory tract infections vary from mild cold to severe acute respiratory distress [1]. It crept in silently and subsequently spread at a rapid pace progressing into a pandemic.

The Coronavirus Disease was unprecedented in recent history with a high rate of morbidity, mortality, loss of income and sustained social isolation for billions of people. Now it has been affecting the world at an alarming rate, unfolding a tsunami of changes and leaving it in shambles, at the same time triggering a global collaboration to disease containment. Being a novel disease, COVID-19 has presented itself as a mystery infection to the health and research field. SARS-CoV-2 has a tendency for genetic evolution resulting in quick mutation and multiple variants that may

have different features compared to its ancestral strains. The coronavirus has created frequent challenges ranging from virus isolation, detection, prevention, vaccine development to clinical and mental health issues. Besides, the tremendous research and insights about nature of virus, the studies regarding short term and long-term consequences on mental and psychological health of the community need to be focused.
