The Rheumatologist's Role in Covid-19. The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has spread rapidly throughout the planet. It is believed to have originated in the Wuhan province of China, but this highly contagious respiratory virus has spread to over 140 countries on 6 continents as of mid-March 2020 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Worldwide, there have been over 164,000 cases identified and over 6,500 deaths attributed to the viral infection. As of March 15, 2020, there are over 3,700 confirmed cases and 68 deaths ascribed to Covid-19 (the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2) in the United States [https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-updates-unitedstates.html].