As expected, higher plasma levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL1β, IL6, IL8, and TNFα at admission and before specific treatment were positively correlated with the severity of COVID-19 symptoms (p < 0.0001 for all cytokines) (Table 2), confirming the results from previous studies (3, 16–18). The gene discussed is CXCL8; the disease is COVID-19.