The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in self-isolation, the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is being tested and actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita have got it.
But a sense of humour has always served the world well in times of crises and nowhere is that more in evidence than on social media during the coronavirus outbreak.
On Twitter there are memes about the English Premier League, the Champions’ League and the NBA all being cancelled.
There have also been a profusion of tweets about the shortage of toilet rolls amid panic buying in Australia, the US and parts of Europe.
Veteran singer Gloria Gaynor has even got in on the act by recording a new version of “I Will Survive” on Tik Tok, in which she washes her hands in front of a mirror.