For most patients, the loss faded within weeks or months. But for a smaller group, taste never fully returned. Even years after infection, certain flavors remain muted or completely absent.

I am a 49-year-old woman who recently had COVID. When I was sick with it, I lost my sense of taste and smell. I no longer have COVID, but I still have a stuffy nose with no sense of taste or smell.

Recognized symptoms of the novel coronavirus include fever, cough, and shortness of breath, but ear, nose, and throat specialists are calling on public health authorities to acknowledge another ...