IL1B and COVID-19: OAS1 gene, an interferon stimulated gene (ISG), showed significant upregulation by IFN-I in COVID-19 PMNs as compared to HC PMNs (Fig 5H), while the inflammasome related genes IL-1β (Fig 5I), CASP1 (Fig 5J) and NLRC5 (Fig 5K) were more efficiently induced in HC PMNs than COVID-19 PMNs.