A novel coronavirus, later named SARS-CoV-2,was fi rst reported in China in December 2019 and subsequentlywidely identifi ed in the United States, Japan, SouthKorea, France, India, and other countries. The diseasecaused by SARS-CoV-2 infection was called COVID-19. The high fatality and morbidity rates of COVID-19 makeit the third largest global epidemic in this century. However,there are currently no approved antiviral drugs for theCOVID-19 treatment. Recently, two old antimalarial drugs,hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, have been found toexert anti-SARS-CoV-2 eff ects both in vitro and in vivo. Preliminaryclinical evidence suggests these drugs may havean eff ect on the treatment of COVID-19. Herein, we reviewthe pharmacokinetics characteristics and antiviral eff ects ofthese drugs, in addition to their side eff ects and clinical evidenceof their use for the COVID-19 treatment.