--- title: "Doctors Think This May Be the First Symptom of the Coronavirus" description: "A growing number of doctors suspect that for many patients, the first symptom of the coronavirus — before a telltale cough or fever — could be the loss of the senses of taste and smell. That’s according to a fascinating new story in The New York Times, which tracked down growing worldwide evidence that those […]" date: "2020-03-23" modified: "2020-03-23" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/doctors-first-symptom-sense-of-smell" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "health" - "smell" --- # Doctors Think This May Be the First Symptom of the Coronavirus ![A growing number of doctors suspect that for many patients, the first symptom of the coronavirus could be the loss of the senses of taste and smell.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert, who's tested positive for the coronavirus, [tweeted this weekend]() that he can't smell anything. Gobert isn't alone. A growing number of doctors suspect that for many patients, the first symptom of the bug — before a telltale cough or fever — could be losing your sense of taste, smell, or both. A [fascinating new story]() in *The New York Times* tracked down growing worldwide evidence that those subtle symptoms could in many cases be harbingers of a coronavirus diagnosis. Some even went as far as to suggest that if you can't smell the garlic and onions you're sautéing, you should consider acting as though you have the virus for the purposes of public health. "Almost everybody who is hospitalized has this same story," Italian doctor Marco Metra, whose hospital is treating hundreds of COVID-19 patients, told the *Times*. "You ask about the patient’s wife or husband. And the patient says, ‘My wife has just lost her smell and taste but otherwise she is well.’ So she is likely infected, and she is spreading it with a very mild form." Experts have deemed the evidence sufficient that on Sunday, a prominent group of American head and neck doctors [called for the loss of taste and smell]() to be added to the list of screening criteria for COVID-19. Early-stage research in South Korea, China and Italy seems to corroborate the phenomenon, [according to *CNN*](), and the *Times* cited two researchers who said they've observed the same thing in Germany. There is good news, according to a professor of medicine at Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich who talked to the *Times*: most patients are regaining both their sense of taste and smell after the infection clears up. ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()