In the current COVID-19 pandemic, CRP has become vital to monitoring patients’ inflammatory status.5 Clinicians across the globe are using CRP to stratify and predict disease severity in COVID-19.6 Large rises in CRP and interleukin-6 coincide with cytokine storm and with the progression to more severe disease states.1 Interleukin-6 levels, while more specific to cytokine storm,7 often require blood samples to be sent to specialized laboratories, resulting in extended turn-around times for results. The gene discussed is IL6; the disease is COVID-19.