Scientists have a theory on covid loss of smell: Damage to nasal cells

(Washington Post) Persistent loss of smell has left some covid-19 survivors yearning for the scent of their freshly bathed childor a waft of their once-favorite meal. It’s left others inured to the stink of garbage and accidentally drinking spoiled milk. “Anosmia,” as experts call it, is one of long covid’s strangest symptoms — and researchers may be one step closer to figuring it out what causes it and how to fix it. A small study published online on Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine and led by researchers at Duke University, Harvard and the University of California San Diego offers a theory, and new insight, into lingering smell loss.