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"[The doctors] concluded that roughly 80% of the people who lost their sense of smell would test positive for the coronavirus, and that somewhere between 30% and 60% of those who had tested positive for the virus had also lost their sense of smell."

covid19? --> ~30-60% chance of loss of smell

loss of smell? --> ~80% chance of covid19 [in the data they collected]

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Other things can cause loss of sense of smell too, long before covid19, so it would have to be way more prevalent in covid than any other cause for that 80% to make sense. If so, that's interesting.

Is this loss of sense of smell permanent? That sounds very scary.

Olfactory neurons are somewhat notable for their ability to regenerate.

Does the virus damage olfactory neurons, or does it cause loss of smell via different mechanism?

For what it's worth, my grandma lost her sense of smell permanently in her 30s after a car crash. Unfortunately, now she can't tell if the food is burning.

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