In contrast, only an HRV-16 pre-infection with a MOIs of 0.5 boosted IFNB1 expression by AECs infected with the Delta variant, and we did not observe an increase in IFNB1 expression by AECs infected with the Omicron variant when pre-infected with any HRV-16 infectious dose. This evidence concerns the gene IFNB1 and infection.