These studies, and a recent pre‐print implicating impaired type 1 interferon signalling in severity of COVID‐19 cases, strongly support a key role for IRF5 and the type 1 interferon response in increased severity in T2D (Forbester et al, 2020; preprint: Hadjadj et al, 2020). Here, IRF5 is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.