Among 1002 admitted patients, we found an association between several risk factors and disease severity that include: age, nationality, male gender, presence of DM, shortness of breath (SOB) on presentation, bilateral chest consolidations, ARDS, sepsis, high WBC, high CRP, high LDH, high D-dimer, low corrected calcium and need for NIV. Here, CRP is linked to acute respiratory distress syndrome.