SARS-CoV-2 is the seventh zoonotic pathogenic novel member of the human coronaviruses and the third coronavirus to cause a large-scale epidemic in the twenty-first century, highly contagious, spreading quickly around the world and affecting all individuals, especially the elderly, those with diverse genetic and immunological backgrounds, also those with multiple underlying disorders and varied demographics like sex and environmental conditions. This work introduces the virology of the novel virus, reveals its possible origin and describes how it spreads via the diverse routes of infection, showing the biological characteristics related to its risk of causing a pandemic, and the kind of diagnostic tools used to identify it. The virus pandemic rapidly progressed worldwide and is still ongoing; the numbers of affected and those deceased are increasing, with devastating societal, economic and political impacts.