Abstract: The global pandemic of COVID-19 has brought renewed attention to coronaviruses. In studies of the three highly pathogenic coronaviruses that have caused pandemics in this century (SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2), there is direct evidence that SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 can cause ocular infections in humans. In addition to ocular symptoms, coronavirus infection can also cause a variety of systemic clinical manifestations through ocular infection. The two highly pathogenic coronaviruses (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2) are more prevalent and have a higher mortality rate. The ocular symptoms of the two viruses are similar, as are the viral structure and the process of ocular infection, mainly through the binding of their specific S proteins to relevant receptors on the cell surface, allowing their nucleic acids to enter the cell and use the intracellular protein synthesis pathway to the process of transcription, assembly, folding and expression of various cytokines through its receptor proteins is similar. This article reviews the characteristics of two highly pathogenic coronaviruses, SARS-CoV, which became prevalent  in 2003, and SARS-CoV-2, which caused a worldwide epidemic in late 2019, the progress of research on the ocular infection pathway and the current status of research related to viral ocular infections, and the need for ocular virus protection and ocular screening of patients. (Int Rev Ophthalmol, 2020, 45：374-379)

Key words: COVID-19, SARS virus, SARS-CoV-2, eye infection