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On 8 June 2020, medRxiv: The Preprint Server for Health Sciences published the research communication "Low-Dose Whole-Lung Radiation of COVID-19 Pneumonia: Planned Day-7 Interim Analysis of a Registered Clinical Trial," which discusses results of a non-peer-reviewed pilot trial using radiation to treat COVID-19. The study, conducted at Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, was small, with only five patients ranging in age from 64 to 94 and a median age of 90. All were suffering from severe pneumonia, on supplemental oxygen, and clinically deteriorating. The patients were each given a single 1.5 Gy dose to both lungs in a front to back beam configuration. Three of the patients were off oxygen in 24 hours and released from the hospital within 12 days. A fourth patient was off oxygen within 96 hours and awaiting discharge at the time of the publication. In theory, the radiation mitigates the uncontrolled systemic inflammatory response, called the cytokine storm, which results in acute respiratory distress. Further, larger studies at other institutions are planned for the near future.