By the end of December 2019, cases of acute severe pneumonia were reported in Wuhan, China, which were caused by a novel form of coronavirus. The novel coronavirus has spread globally within months. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the global outbreak a public health emergency of international concern and named it as "Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)" (1).Healthcare workers on the front line (henceforth referred to as HCWs), who are directly involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of patients with COVID-19, are at risk of developing psychological distress. Facing these war-like circumstances, overwhelmingly huge workload, depletion of personal protective equipment (PPE), worries about becoming infected or infecting family members, lack of specific drugs, widespread media coverage, witnessing the suffering and death of patients, feeling stigmatized and being inadequately supported may all contribute to the emotional and physical burnout of the HCWs. Previous studies about psychological reactions to the SARS outbreak among HCWs reported that they feared contagion and infection of their loved ones, felt uncertainty and stigmatization, reported reluctance to work or contemplating resignation, and experienced high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (2-4). Similar concerns about the mental burden of the HCWs are now arising. A recent study from China revealed that the prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress were found to be 50%, 44%, 34%, and 71%, respectively (5). Even if the number of
