Procedures
On the same day as the bronchoscopy, we collected blood samples into EDTA-anticoagulated tubes. Plasma was frozen at -800C until analysis. The BAL fluid was collected by wedging the bronchoscope within the right middle lobe and instilling 100ml of sterile normal saline and collecting the return fluid (>30ml). Two subjects underwent bronchoscopies of the right lower lobe based on radiographic imaging. 1ml of the BAL sample was analyzed in the main clinical laboratory for SARS-CoV2- RT-PCR and 10-15 ml were kept on ice until processing for cytokine quantification in the research laboratory.