SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh member of the Coronaviridae known to infect humans. The first CoV to achieve international notoriety was SARS-CoV; linked to clusters of ‘atypical pneumonia’ (later named SARS; severe acute respiratory syndrome) initially presenting in the Chinese Province of Guangdong, in 2003, before spreading first to Hong Kong and then to some 26 countries; infecting more than 8000 people [2]. While SARS-CoV originated from bats, with human transmission occurring via an intermediate host [3], the true origins of SARS-CoV-2 remain unknown (though bats, pangolins and snakes have all been suggested [4]). As with SARS, COVID-19 spread rapidly from its Chinese epicenter, though with a considerably farther reach and impact. On 11 March 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic [5]. At the time of writing, 216 countries & territories and two international conveyances have reported cases of COVID-19, with the total number approaching 64 million and over 1.4 million associated deaths [6].