Doctors warn an inability to smell could be a symptom of Covid-19 — but caution the evidence is preliminary
Health care workers are calling attention to a potential new symptom of a novel coronavirus infection: the loss of one’s sense of smell.
Clinicians in the U.S. and elsewhere around the world have reported, anecdotally, that some patients infected with the virus experience anosmia, or an inability to smell. The American Academy of Otolaryngology recently called for anosmia to be added to a list of screening tools for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. On Monday, World Health Organization officials announced they were further probing a possible link between anosmia and coronavirus — though they noted the evidence of a potential connection remains preliminary.
