To identify the risk factors of mortality for the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) through a retrospective analysis. The demographic, clinical, laboratory, and chest imaging data of patients admitted to the ICU of Huoshenshan Hospital from February 10 to April 10, 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Student's t-test and Chi-square test were used to compare the continuous and categorical variables, respectively. The logistic regression model was employed to ascertain the risk factors of mortality. This retrospective study involved 123 patients, including 64 dead and 59 survivors. Among them, 57 people were tested for interleukin-6 (IL-6) (20 died and 37 survived). In all included patients, the oxygenation index (PaO2/FiO2) was identified as an independent risk factor (odd ratio [OR] = 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.928-0.994, p = 0.021). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.895 (95% CI: 0.826-0.943, p < 0.0001). Among the patients tested for IL-6, the PaO2/FiO2 (OR = 0.955, 95%CI: 0.915-0.996, p = 0.032) and IL-6 (OR = 1.013, 95%CI: 1.001-1.025, p = 0.028) were identified as independent risk factors. The AUC was 0.9 (95% CI: 0.791-0.964, p < 0.0001) for IL-6 and 0.865 (95% CI: 0.748-0.941, p < 0.0001) for PaO2/FiO2. PaO2/FiO2 and IL-6 could potentially serve as independent risk factors for predicting death in COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care.