The COVID-19 Resource Centre, established by Elsevier in January 2020, provides free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus. The centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect and grants permission for all COVID-19-related research to be made available in PubMed Central and other public repositories, with unrestricted reuse and analysis rights. A study by Tao Zuo et al. investigates the alterations in gut microbiota of patients with COVID-19 during hospitalization. The study found significant changes in fecal microbiomes, characterized by an enrichment of opportunistic pathogens and a depletion of beneficial commensals. These changes persisted even after the clearance of SARS-CoV-2 and resolution of respiratory symptoms. Key bacteria, such as *Coprobacillus*, *Clostridium ramosum*, and *Clostridium hathewayi*, correlated with COVID-19 severity, while *Faecalibacterium prausnitzii*, an anti-inflammatory bacterium, showed an inverse correlation. Over the course of hospitalization, certain Bacteroides species, which downregulate ACE2 expression, correlated inversely with SARS-CoV-2 load in fecal samples. The study suggests that alterations in gut microbiota may contribute to disease severity and that strategies to modulate the intestinal microbiota could potentially reduce severity.The COVID-19 Resource Centre, established by Elsevier in January 2020, provides free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus. The centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect and grants permission for all COVID-19-related research to be made available in PubMed Central and other public repositories, with unrestricted reuse and analysis rights. A study by Tao Zuo et al. investigates the alterations in gut microbiota of patients with COVID-19 during hospitalization. The study found significant changes in fecal microbiomes, characterized by an enrichment of opportunistic pathogens and a depletion of beneficial commensals. These changes persisted even after the clearance of SARS-CoV-2 and resolution of respiratory symptoms. Key bacteria, such as *Coprobacillus*, *Clostridium ramosum*, and *Clostridium hathewayi*, correlated with COVID-19 severity, while *Faecalibacterium prausnitzii*, an anti-inflammatory bacterium, showed an inverse correlation. Over the course of hospitalization, certain Bacteroides species, which downregulate ACE2 expression, correlated inversely with SARS-CoV-2 load in fecal samples. The study suggests that alterations in gut microbiota may contribute to disease severity and that strategies to modulate the intestinal microbiota could potentially reduce severity.