Incubation period is an important parameter to inform quarantine period and to 
study transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. We conducted a systematic 
review and meta-analysis on published estimates of the incubation period 
distribution of coronavirus disease 2019, and showed that the pooled median of 
the point estimates of the mean, median and 95th percentile for incubation 
period are 6.3 days (range, 1.8-11.9 days), 5.4 days (range, 2.0-17.9 days), and 
13.1 days (range, 3.2-17.8 days), respectively. Estimates of the mean and 95th 
percentile of the incubation period distribution were considerably shorter 
before the epidemic peak in China compared to after the peak, and variation was 
also noticed for different choices of methodological approach in estimation. Our 
findings implied that corrections may be needed before directly applying 
estimates of incubation period into control of or further studies on emerging 
infectious diseases.