Persisting as a risk to public health worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has prompted extensive global research efforts to unravel the dynamic of virus-host interplay contributing to disease severity. One of the SARS-CoV-2 accessory proteins, ORF9b, is recognized for its role in the alteration of host antiviral type I inte…