I think COVID is going to have a pretty powerful and meaningful impact on the potential viral origins or influences on many diseases that we poorly understand their genesis. Mostly owing to the fact that so many people got the disease and will recover and continue to live fairly normal lives, but a much more significant portion of the population will have long-term health effects that will serve as good sample sizes to study and analyze. It could go a long way in helping us to get to a point where we actually help people achieve optimal health as oppose to just keeping people alive.
I have thought for many years that "auto-immune disease" was a cop-out versus looking for the root cause. After developing Asthma at 35, after a "common" cold, viruses were top of my list as potential candidates because they alter cellular DNA in the course of being viruses. Nice to see investigations in that direction show some promise. (Disclaimer: medical layman)