The prevailing wisdom is (that post-Covid) parosmia is a good thing – a sign of the neurons regenerating but failing to make their connection, like leads in the wrong port. But, [Barry Smith of the Global Consortium of Chemosensory Research] tells me, it’s not a simple “miswiring”. There appear to be certain volatile molecules, such as those found in coffee and roasted meat – which in high concentration would be quite toxic – that set it off, perhaps triggering a kind of warning alarm.

“It’s a bit like tinnitus in the ears,” Smith suggests, in that the brain is struggling to modulate the signals it receives; my nose is whining, always at the same high pitch.

— Read more in Searching for sense: what we lose when smell deserts us at New Statesman.