Recently, Mikami et al. (2023) confirmed the presence of a clear hypoxic response in the airway epithelial tissues of individuals with CF, non-CF bronchiectasis, primary ciliary dyskinesia and COVID-19, evidenced notably through the induction of EGLN3 or EGLN1 (Mikami et al., 2023), thus confirming the relevance of hypoxia as a prime pathological process for multiple lung diseases. Here, EGLN1 is linked to COVID-19.