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The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in December 2019 prompted consternation in many parts of the world. Due to its fast dissemination, the World Health Organization declared a pandemic in March 2020. Aiming to contain the spread of the virus, leaders of many countries restrained social movement, targeting to flatten the curve of contamination with social distancing. This review aimed to analyze how human behavior has changed throughout this period. We also approached the key components of the emotional reaction to the pandemic, how internal and external factors, such as personality traits, gender, the media, the economy and the governmental response, influence the social perception of the pandemic and the psychological outcomes of the current scenario. Moreover, we explored in depth the groups at increased risk of suffering mental health burden secondary to these circumstances. These include the healthcare professionals, elderly individuals, children, college students, black subjects, latin and LGBTQ+ communities, economically disadvantaged groups, the homeless, prisoners, the rural population and psychiatric patients. We also discussed several measures that might minimize the emotional impact derived from this scenario. It is crucial that the health authorities, the government and the population articulate to assist the vulnerable groups and promote emotional and psychological support strategies. Moreover, it is fundamental that the population is provided with accurate information concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.Introduction In December 2019, a cluster of pneumonia cases was reported in the province of Hubei, China (Lu et al., 2020). It was then discovered that the infection was caused by a virus, named SARS-CoV-2. Subsequently, the illness caused by this virus was termed Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) Guidelines indicate that by January 14th 2020, 1 day after the first recorded case outside of China, only 41 cases were confirmed (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020b). At the present, statistics taken from the WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard by September 5th announce 26.5 millions of confirmed cases worldwide, with over 871 thousand deaths (World Health Organization [WHO], 2020c). Restricting measures have been implemented in several countries as an attempt to slow down the dissemination of the SARS-CoV-2. China (Wang C. et al., 2020), Italy (Briscese et al., 2020), and the United Kingdom (UK) (Holmes et al., 2020), for example, carried out strict “lockdown” regulations, while other countries, including the United States of America (US) (Imperial College of London, 2020) and Brazil (Simões e Silva et al., 2020), have delivered “stay home” recommendations. In many places, means of transportation were shut down, public spaces were closed and only essential services kept functioning; albeit with restrictions and preventive measures. However, as the world authorities seem
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