A drastic decrease in the number of circulating lymphocytes (lymphocytopenia) in severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients is now well appreciated (Huang C. et al., 2020; Liao et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020a; Mathew et al., 2020; Zhou F. et al., 2020; Zhou P. et al., 2020). Interestingly, restoration in the lymphocyte count is also consistently seen during the recovery phase (Chen Y. et al., 2020). Based on these early findings, lymphocytopenia is considered a predictive indicator of COVID-19 disease severity (Tan L. et al., 2020b). Although the molecular mechanisms associated with lymphocytopenia during SARS-CoV-2 are not known, emerging evidence suggests the role of multiple factors based on the correlations drawn from previous viral infections. The decline in lymphocyte numbers in circulation can be attributed to altered chemokine and cytokine signaling responsible for the recruitment and activation/inhibition of these cells, increased infiltration to the site of infection, and cell death by apoptosis and/or necrosis (Wherry and Kurachi, 2015; Walling and Kim, 2018).