I originally became interested in understanding the novel coronavirus because of it being a respiratory illness and having asthma. This book came about as I started preparing for what appeared to be its inevitable arrival on US shores. As I started documenting my research into the virus and its potential impact on everyday life. To further my understanding of the virus and understand how our health systems should respond. I enrolled in and completed the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Contact Tracing Course offered on the Coursera e-learning platform.