In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (formerly known as 2019-nCoV) pneumonia began in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China). The COVID-19 spread rapidly across China and many other countries and assumed a pandemic proportion. As of January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated this outbreak as a global health emergency. Respiratory droplets and direct contact are likely to be the most important routes of transmission. Therefore, early diagnosis and isolation becomes essential against novel coronavirus. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the reference standard to confirm the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection. However, more and more false negative RT-PCR results have been reported recently making the diagnosis rather challenging. Currently, HRCT is one of the best tools for screening, primary diagnosis, estimation of disease severity, and prediction of the prognosis. HRCT manifestations of COVID-19 pneumonia have not been well known. Recent studies showed that typical HRCT findings included bilateral pulmonary parenchymal ground glass and consolidative opacities, with a peripheral lung distribution However, the HRCT features of COVID-19 are very diverse, and it is difficult to differentiate it from other kinds of viral pneumonia. This article describes the salient features of COVID-19 pneumonia in lung and the temporal progression of the changes and also the common and important imaging differential diagnoses to be considered. Keywords: COVID-19; pneumonia; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus disease; pandemic