Kos I, Balensiefer B, Lesan V, et al. - As lacunae remain concerning the pathogenesis of auto‐immune complications triggered by SARS‐CoV2, researchers herein analyzed cellular immune status, cell ratios and monocyte populations of patients with COVID‐19 treated on the intensive care unit (ICU) (cohort 1, N = 23) and normal care unit (NCU) (cohort 2, n = 10) compared with control groups: patients treated on ICU for non‐infectious reasons (cohort 3, n = 30) and patients treated on NCU for infections other than COVID‐19 (cohort 4, n = 21). Patients in cohort 1 significantly differed from the other cohorts, as they had reduced frequencies of lymphocytes, reduced CD8+T‐cell count, reduced percentage of activated and intermediate monocytes and an elevated B/T8 cell ratio. Levels of IgG1 and IgG3 were significantly higher in cohort 1, whereas levels of IgG3 were higher in cohort 3 when compared with controls. Patients with severe COVID‐19 mainly showed an elevated B/T8 cell ratio and a reduced rate of activated monocytes among many immune changes. Both parameters were noted to be linked with with death in cohort 1.