The novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome; SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has spread rapidly throughout the planet. It is believed to have originated in the Wuhan province of China, but this highly contagious respiratory virus has spread to over 140 countries on 6 continents as of mid-March 2020, according to the World Health Organization. Worldwide, there have been over 164,000 cases identified and over 6500 deaths attributed to the viral infection. As of mid-March 2020, there are over 3700 confirmed cases and 68 deaths ascribed to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19; the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2) in the United States (www. livescience. com/coronavirus-updates-united-states. html). These numbers will only continue to grow globally. Based primarily on data out of China, about 80% of those infected with SARS-CoV-2 experience a relatively mild “cold,” as is seen with more common coronavirus infections. However, 20% of those infected require hospitalization, with 5–15% overall necessitating intensive care1. As the true denominator of those infected is not yet known, it remains unclear what the overall mortality rate is associated with COVID-19, but estimates range between 1% and 4% 2. Although the mortality rate is lower than that reported for previous coronavirus epidemics such as SARS and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), the much larger absolute number of infected individuals with SARS-CoV-2 will result in substantially more total deaths worldwide. Those at highest risk of dying from COVID-19 are elderly (> 60 yrs and increasing with age), those with immunodeficiencies, and those with underlying chronic medical conditions (eg, diabetes, heart disease). Although children tend to experience only mild symptoms, younger previously healthy adults have also succumbed to COVID-19. Once hospitalized, for some patients, death can occur within a few days, many with adult respiratory distress syndrome, and some with multiorgan dysfunction syndrome3. In those critically ill patients, there are both clinical signs and symptoms, as well as laboratory abnormalities, that suggest a cytokine storm syndrome (CSS) is occurring in response to the viral infection. Specifically, COVID-19 patients with CSS may have high fevers, confusion, and coagulopathy (Table 1) 3. In addition, reports out of China have detailed the following commonly seen CSS laboratory abnormalities in hospitalized patients with COVID-19: elevated liver enzymes, C-reactive protein, ferritin, soluble interleukin (IL)-2 receptor α-chain, D-dimers, coagulation times, and lactate dehydrogenase; with lower platelet and lymphocyte counts (Table 1) 3, 4, 5. Physicians thus need to be aware of the possibility of CSS occurring in their hospitalized patients with COVID-196. Because rheumatologists are aware of CSS/macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) among their own patient populations (eg, adult-onset Still disease, systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus), they can help to champion the screening for, and diagnosis of, CSS among hospitalized patients with COVID-19. There is no perfect set of diagnostic criteria available for diagnosis of CSS, particularly in the setting of COVID-19 (new territory), but currently available CSS criteria [eg, HScore, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)-04, ferritin to erythrocyte sedimentation rate ratio; Table 1) can certainly guide clinicians toward the clinical diagnosis7, 8, 9. As a simple, cheap, readily available, and fast screen, we propose that every hospitalized patient with COVID-19 is deserving of a serum ferritin value7, 10. A notably elevated ferritin value (eg,> 700 ng/ml) should alert …