Like that of other positive-strand RNA viruses, coronavirus genome replication is a process of continuous synthesis that utilizes a full-length complementary negative-strand RNA as the template for the production of progeny virus genomes. The initiation  of negative-strand synthesis involves access of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) to the 3’terminus of the genome, promoted by 3′-end RNA sequences and structures. There is evidence that both 5′- and 3′- end RNA elements are required for the production of progeny  positive-strand  RNA from the intermediate negative-strand RNA, suggesting that interactions between the 5′ and 3′ ends of the genome contribute to replication.