Carried out by researchers at UC San Diego Health, the new study looked at survey responses from 262 patients reporting flu-like symptoms, 59 of whom had tested positive for Covid-19 and 203 who had tested negative.

The findings, published in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, showed that of the Covid-19-positive patients, 68% (50 out of the 59 participants) reported a loss of smell and 71% (42 out of 59) reported a loss of taste, compared to 16% (33 out of 203) and 17% (35/out of 203) of patients who had tested negative.

Moreover, many of those who report a loss of smell and taste also said that the loss was profound, not mild. However, the good news is that most patients regained the two senses usually within two to four weeks.

“Based on our study, if you have smell and taste loss, you are more than 10 times more likely to have Covid-19 infection than other causes of infection.

“The most common first sign of a Covid-19 infection remains fever, but fatigue and loss of smell and taste follow as other very common initial symptoms,” said study author Carol Yan, MD.

“We know Covid-19 is an extremely contagious virus. This study supports the need to be aware of smell and taste loss as early signs of Covid-19.”

“Our study not only showed that the high incidence of smell and taste is specific to Covid-19 infection, but we fortunately also found that for the majority of people sensory recovery was generally rapid,” said Yan.

“Among the Covid-19 patients with smell loss, more than 70% had reported improvement of smell at the time of survey and of those who hadn’t reported improvement, many had only been diagnosed recently.”

“It is our hope that with these findings other institutions will follow suit and not only list smell and taste loss as a symptom of Covid-19, but use it as a screening measure for the virus across the world,” Yan said.

Other known symptoms of Covid-19 include fever, fatigue, cough and difficulty breathing. The researchers also noted that interestingly, they found that experiencing a sore throat was associated with testing negative for Covid-19.

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