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Loss of smell and taste continued for months with little improvement. Then one day, out of the blue, tap water tasted really chemical to me. This was in July, and rapidly, everyday things became distorted in a vile way. My husband’s aftershave is horrendous. I can’t go out to eat or drink. I hold my nose to drink even water.
— For Kelly De-Gol, Covid-19 brought first anosmia, then parosmia. Read more in Why Losing Your Sense of Smell With Covid-19 Is So Traumatizing at Elemental.
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A Monell analysis of 47 studies finds that nearly 80% of Covid-19 patients have lost their sense of smell as determined by scratch-and sniff tests, Reed said. But only about 50% include that in self-reported symptoms. In other words, people don’t realize they have partly or even completely lost their sense of smell. That may be because they’re suffering other, more serious symptoms and so don’t notice this one, or because smell isn’t something they focus on.
— Read more in Fever checks are a flawed way to flag Covid-19 cases. Experts say smell tests might help at Stat.
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Kelsey Meeks sprayed pine-scented air freshener in her office last week — then started to cry. For the first time in months, she could smell it.
— Read more in Some coronavirus patients lose their sense of smell for 30-plus days — and may never regain it. Scientists are beginning to understand why at Business Insider.
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The loss of smell dealt a blow to Lisa Montoya, a 44-year-old nurse in Denver who had a mild Covid-19 infection in March and recovered in April. “To me, smell is very comforting and I’ve always been super sensitive to it. I’m the kind of person who applies eucalyptus oil if I have a hard time sleeping,” she said.
Ms. Montoya hasn’t fully regained her smell, and that has damaged her enjoyment of everyday rituals. “I would grind coffee and hold it up to my nose,” she says. “Coffee is one of my favorite things and smelling in the morning made me feel awake and alive.”
— Read more in Coronavirus Patients Lose Senses of Taste, Smell—and Haven’t Gotten Them Back at The Wall Street Journal. Hat tip to Kevin!
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If you believe you've lost your sense of smell (and do not have a medical reason to explain the loss), experts say to take the symptom seriously.
"At this point I would be fairly confident to put it in the same category as, say, fever," said Munger. "Obviously a variety of things can cause a fever. But if you lose your sense of smell quickly you want to self-isolate and contact your physician to talk about what actionable steps you might want to take."
— Steven Munger, director of the Center for Smell and Taste at the University of Florida, on COVID-19 symptoms. Read more in Loss of smell from coronavirus: How to test your sense at CNN.