A paper published in NATURE reports that the SARS-CoV-2 virus could infect T cells through receptor-dependent, S protein-mediated membrane fusion, and the infection could be inhibited by EK1 peptide, resulting in lymphocytopenia which could be one of the diagnostic indicators in COVID-19 patients.

SARS-CoV-2 infects T lymphocytes through its spike protein-mediated membrane fusion

Structure of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike glycoprotein, courtesy Alexandra C. Walls, Young-Jun Park, David Veesler

Wang, X., Xu, W., Hu, G. et al. SARS-CoV-2 infects T lymphocytes through its spike protein-mediated membrane fusion. Cell Mol Immunol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41423-020-0424-9