evidence: SARS-CoV-2 may also enter the central nervous system via the nasal cavity, through the foramina of the cribriform plate, and into the olfactory epithelium. There, the virus can exploit the close vicinity of olfactory sensory neurons whose axons project into the olfactory bulb of the brain (Montalvan et al., 2020). Olfactory entry of SARS-CoV-2 into the CNS is now supported by multiple studies. Meinhardt et al. (2021) analyzed the olfactory mucosa, its nervous projections, and several CNS regions in 33 individuals who died from COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 RNA and/or protein were identified in anatomically distinct regions of both the nasopharynx and brain, including the medulla oblongata of the brainstem (Meinhardt et al., 2021). SARS-CoV-2 RNA levels were highest within the olfactory mucosa sampled directly under the cribriform plate (n = 20 of 30). [...] Lee, M.-H., Perl, D. P., Nair, G., Li, W., Maric, D., Murray, H., et al. (2021). Microvascular injury in the brains of patients with Covid-19. N. Engl. J. Med. 384, 481–483. doi: 10.1056/nejmc2033369 [...] Meinhardt, J., Radke, J., Dittmayer, C., Franz, J., Thomas, C., Mothes, R., et al. (2021). Olfactory transmucosal SARS-CoV-2 invasion as a port of central nervous system entry in individuals with COVID-19. Nat. Neurosci. 24, 168–175.