Nevertheless, in a study of hospitalized patients from South Africa, latently Mtb-infected patients diagnosed with COVID-19 exhibited lower blood frequencies of Mtb-specific CD4+ T cells (defined by the expression of IFNγ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF), or both, after stimulation with Mtb peptides), than historic pre-pandemic patients [94]. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is COVID-19.