Using a K18-hACE2 transgenic mouse model (23), we demonstrated a link between SARS-CoV-2 infection, ORF3a expression, Sur1-associated neuroinflammation, and apoptotic astrocyte death, similar to what we observed in postmortem brain tissues of individuals with COVID-19 (Fig. 1), thereby relating ORF3a to SARS-CoV-2-induced brain injury (Fig. 4). The gene discussed is ABCC8; the disease is COVID-19.