Lost sense of smell or taste could signal you have COVID-19

A sudden loss or reduced sense of smell or taste could indicate COVID-19 before other symptoms appear, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology.

The Academy recently proposed adding these symptoms to the list of screening tools for possible COVID-19 infection. It recommends that people with these symptoms—even without other respiratory diseases like allergies or a cold—should alert their doctor and seriously consider self-quarantine and testing.

“Since these people do not show other symptoms, they won’t know to self-quarantine, which could spread the virus,” says Rachel Kaye, an assistant professor of otolaryngology at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, who is beginning to track these occurrences in the United States.

Here, Kaye explains the connection between these senses and COVID-19:

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