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One of the signature symptoms of COVID-19 infection in the early months of the pandemic was a loss of the sense of smell. Now, new research finds that is no longer the case, thanks to the new variants that have been circulating more recently.

The risk of losing sense of taste or smell is now only about 6% to 7% of what it was during the pandemic’s early stages, according to researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine in Richmond, Va.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, smell and taste loss were considered common symptoms of COVID-19. Before viral tests were readily accessible, we relied a lot more on such symptoms to diagnose those infected. However, as different variants of the COVID-19 virus have emerged, the types of symptoms most commonly experienced changed as well,” said study author Dr. Evan Reiter, who is the medical director of VCU Health’s Smell and Taste Disorders Center. Head over to WebMD to read the full story.