Unable to symlink static files using express.static() in Next js - express

Question

I'm prototyping a NextJS implementation with the following server code:
import express from 'express';
import next from 'next';
import path from 'path';
const dev = process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production';
const app = next({ dev });
const handle = app.getRequestHandler();
dotenv.config();
app.prepare().then(() => {
const server = express();
// Custom build resources aliases
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
server.use('/favicon.ico', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'static', 'images', 'icons', 'favicon.ico')));
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// Custom/dynamic routes
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
server.get('/p/:id', (req, res) => {
const actualPage = '/post';
const queryParams = { title: req.params.id };
app.render(req, res, actualPage, queryParams);
});
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// Default route
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
server.get('*', (req, res) => handle(req, res));
// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
// Express: Listener
server.listen(process.env.WEB_PORT, () => {
console.log(`Server listening on port: ${process.env.WEB_PORT}...`);
});
}).catch((ex) => {
console.error(ex.stack);
process.exit(1);
});
As apparent, my static assets sit in a /static/ folder. Of these, I have a favicon file at /static/images/icons/favicon.ico. I am able to visit this file using https://schandillia.com/static/images/icons/favicon.ico. However, when I try hitting https://schandillia.com/favicon, it throws a 404. Am I not using express.static() correctly?