Since autophagic flux impairment is known to activate NLRP3 inflammasomes to mediate the maturation of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 [5], we postulated that SARS-CoV-2 may encode virulence factor(s) that activates this inflammatory cascade and leads to severe disease manifestation in COVID-19 patients. The gene discussed is IL1B; the disease is COVID-19.