There’s an unusual addition to the list of possible COVID-19 symptoms: A sudden loss of smell or taste may be a warning sign a person could be infected by the new coronavirus, European and U.S. experts said. The American Academy of Otolaryngology on Sunday announced “rapidly accumulating” anecdotal evidence showed anosmia — the loss of smell — and dysgeusia — an altered sense of taste — were “significant symptoms” associated with COVID-19 when a patient had no other respiratory disease. Many people, including Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert who tested positive for COVID-19, are reporting these unsettling changes in their bodies.
The World Health Organization has seen "quite a few reports" of people losing their sense of smell and taste, and is looking into whether this is an early sign of the disease, said Dr. Maria Kerkhove during a WHO briefing Monday. “Our senses of smell and taste are closely linked together and changes in these senses may occur from inflammation in the upper airway,” Dr. Kris Jatana, associate professor of otolaryngology — head and neck surgery at Nationwide Children's Hospital and Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University, told TODAY.
https://www.today.com/health/coronav...-taste-t176597