If you can’t smell these 2 things, you probably have COVID-19

[Andy Meek]

• Losing the senses of smell and taste are among the most commonly reported coronavirus symptoms -- and among the clearest indicators of the likely presence of the COVID-19 virus.
• A new study out of India has taken a closer look at this particular coronavirus indicator, to see if the loss of the ability to identify particular smells might be an even clearer symptom of the coronavirus.
• What it found was that study participants who couldn't identity two smells among the five in the study were most likely to test positive for COVID-19.

One of the truly bizarre things about the COVID-19 virus at the center of the current global pandemic is how many weird and frightening coronavirus symptoms have manifested themselves in the now-millions of victims around the world. Some of them are quite obvious and make sense that they'd be symptoms associated with this respiratory virus, such as a fever and dry cough, but there are others that people might not even realize are relevant to a possible COVID diagnosis.

Losing your sense of smell or taste is one such coronavirus symptom that more people need to be aware, largely because this is basically a big, blinking red indicator light of the possible presence of the virus. According to a recent New York Times analysis, almost 90% of patients reported that symptom, and a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study went so far as to find that some 25% of people diagnosed with coronavirus report this as their one and only symptom. And now, we're learning even more critical information related to the sense of smell being connected to the presence of COVID-19 -- particularly, regarding when people report losing the ability to identify specific smells.

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If you can’t smell these 2 things, you probably have COVID-19 originally appeared on BGR.com on Tue, 13 Oct 2020 at 16:18:28 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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