Abstract: The COVID-19 epidemic seriously threatened human health and caused huge losses to the world economy. COVID-19 is an acute explosive disease. Currently, symptomatic treatment is the only option for the patients who are suffering from COVID-19 and there is very few targeted medications or vaccines available in the market. Due to the lack of time and the urgent need for the market, which brings great challenges to the research and development of new drug in the pharmaceutical field. Therefore, seeking therapeutic options for treatments of COVID-19 based on previous theories and experience such as influenza virus, SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, Ebola virus etc. Which caused viral respiratory infectious diseases is a critical priority. This review summarizes progresses of pharmacotherapeutic options and detection, spread and preventions of SARS-CoV-2 and other types of viruses that could cause epidemic pneumonia, and discusses the mechanism of virus infection, aiming to provide broad ideas and perspectives for developing novel medications against COVID-19.