There has been an outbreak of a novel (new) coronavirus (referred to as SARS-CoV-2) that has been associated with cases of severe respiratory illness such as pneumonia. Symptoms of this disease (known as COVID-2019) include fever, malaise, dry cough, sore throat and shortness of breath. There is evidence of person-to-person transmission. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization upgraded the status of the COVID-19 outbreak from epidemic to pandemic.