Taken together, benefits from therapeutic blockade of IL-6 can be obtained in COVID-19 by disrupting proinflammatory IL-6 trans-presentation and trans-signalling, which would be predominant and pathogenic in severe disease; anti-IL-6 treatment should therefore be given to patients with severe and rapidly progressive COVID-19, within the second week of symptom onset (or within the first week of hospitalisation), that is before the increased IL-6 and CRP levels further rise uncontrollably. Here, IL6 is linked to COVID-19.