It was sudden, like turning an electric switch off." This is how one patient described her abrupt loss of smell and taste following infection with covid-19. "I was eating some lunch on day three after contracting covid-19 and one moment I could still smell and taste the flavours of my soup, and the next everything vanished." She was not alone in this. In fact, smell and taste loss are common complaints among patients with covid-19, with an estimated 50% of patients reporting these symptoms. 1 This is thought to occur due to conductive barriers and nerve damage from the extensive inflammation in covid-19 infection. 2 -5