Our analysis revealed the following genes (top 20 by degree) distinct to recovered patients at 12wpi timepoint who experienced critical COVID-19:EGFR, SHH, SOX9, PXDN, ITGB1, COL1A1, KIT, IL4, NANOG, NES, GNB3, SLC17A7, OTX2, IL17A, TJP1, MMP2, GRIN2A, KRT5, PAX2 and CDH5 (Fig. 8B) with EGFR as a central hub gene. Here, SOX9 is linked to COVID-19.