COVID-19 new symptoms: loss of sense of smell and taste

WORLD — Anosmia, the loss of smell; hyposmia, a reduced sense of smell; and dysgeusia, the distortion of the sense of taste could all be linked to COVID-19.

According to a report from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, anosmia, the loss of smell; hyposmia, a reduced sense of smell; and dysgeusia, the distortion of the sense of taste, should be added to the list of symptoms caused by the COVID-19 virus.

In a newsletter on the topic, Claire Hopkins, President of the British Rhinological Society, and Nirmal Kumar, President of ENT UK, reported that more than two in three confirmed cases of coronavirus in Germany have anosmia.

Similarly, in South Korea, 30 percent of patients who tested positive for the virus had anosmia as their main symptom.

The report also mentions anecdotal evidence that a patient can be generally asymptomatic, only presenting anosmia, and still test positive for COVID-19.

However, patients with just anosmia are often not tested or asked to self-isolate as this symptom is not yet recognized as a sign of coronavirus.