Following immunomodulatory treatment correction, there were several pathways downregulated in severe COVID-19 that were related to DNA damage and apoptosis, including NER (Nucleotide Excision Repair, Enhanced Pathway, z-score = − 2.744; BH p-value = 1.318 × 10–02), Role of BRCA1 in DNA Damage Response (z-score = − 0.943; BH p-value = 4.571 × 10–02) and TWEAK signalling (z-score = − 0.5; BH p-value = 3.715 × 10–02). Here, BRCA1 is linked to COVID-19.