The differential patterns might be explained by the previous reports that SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal models and in COVID-19 patients is correlated with low IFN type I and type III responses (Blanco-Melo et al. 2020), whereas MERS-CoV generally elevated IFN response after infection (Inandiklioglu and Akkoc 2020). Here, IFNA1 is linked to COVID-19.