Studies of COVID-19 patients with severe disease revealed a high level of plasma pro-inflammatory cytokines (including IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-18 and TNF) (23) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (24), indicating overt hyper-inflammation during COVID-19, sometimes improperly termed “cytokine storm” or “cytokine release syndrome”. This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and COVID-19.