MAKES SENSE

British Study: 60% Had Loss of Smell and Taste as Coronavirus Symptoms

British researchers collected data from around 1.5 million people via a symptom-tracker app in first study of its kind on COVID-19 outbreak.

A lot of people have anecdotally reported losing their senses of taste or smell while suffering with suspected coronavirus—now a scientific study appears to have backed that up. According to The New York Times, researchers at King’s College London collected data from 1.5 million people via a symptom-tracker app designed to help monitor the pandemic. Their research reportedly found that almost 60 percent of patients who were subsequently confirmed as positive for COVID-19 claimed they lost their sense of smell or taste. The symptom was much stronger in predicting a positive COVID-19 diagnosis than a self-reported fever, the researchers said. “When combined with other symptoms, people with loss of smell and taste appear to be three times more likely to have contracted COVID-19, according to our data, and should therefore self-isolate for seven days to reduce the spread of the disease,” said Tim Spector, a King’s College professor.