Higher CD95 expression in CD4 + and CD8 + cells are found to be associated with decreased CD4 + and CD8 + cell numbers respectively, showing apoptosis via CD95 is a potential mechanism for COVID-19-induced lymphopenia.91 There is an increased rate of infection associated with the ORF3a mutation in SARS-CoV-2 and there are 18 distinct amino acid substitutions observed; five are neutral (T175I, L94F, K16N, L94I, and A72 T), whereas the rest are detrimental (Q57H, G251 V, P25L, V90F, W149L, R126 T, T176I Y109C, D155Y, T217I, D142N Y156N andK67E). Here, CD8A is linked to lymphopenia.