They found that expression of receptor interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1), an important mediator of inflammation and cell death (Mifflin et al., 2020), is upregulated in patients with COVID-19 who experience a cytokine storm, and is also activated in SARS-CoV-2-infected primary LOs. Here, RIPK1 is linked to COVID-19.