There are some different theories on this, which means that basically we don't know what exactly is causing it. One of the more common thoughts is that covid is infecting neurons in the nose, which is affecting smell, which is in turn, affecting taste.
Obviously, being congested affects smell and taste, but some people have it affected for much longer than they are sick, so it's not just that.
It's not clogged or burned pores or nostrils, and it's all smells and tastes, according to friends that have experienced it. One got hers back, another still has it. Researchers are looking into if it may be permanent for some people.
Do you have this?
Oh, this is fantastic as I had covid! Forgot to make the announcement. :>) It was 12 days of badness. I completely lost my taste and smell. On day 7 of having symptoms, 3 days after tremendous congestion started. What I was told that we have a nerve that is in that area. We can lose our smell from any illness that impacts this nerve (where we are highly congested), but with all my time on earth, I never suffered that until covid. Good old covid. It started to wear I kept thinking to myself "can I smell alright?" as it must have started and taken a couple of days to be fully gone. Once smell was gone, obviously taste was too. There are sensory nerves that send signals to the brain to detect smell. That gets interrupted from covid whether from inflammation or neurological involvement.
Not having any smell is very odd. I missed it more than taste to be honest. It came back after a week or so slowly.
I was so worried to have lost both when hit with the virus last October, I did lots of research to understand why. Damage to the lining of the nose, affecting the neural pathway and messages to the brain seemed to be the general opinion. However, I had no ‘cold’ symptoms, just very very mild congestion. I was convinced these senses wouldn’t return. I read up about ‘smell training’ and bought some essential oils to inhale twice a day - I used lemon, eucalyptus, lavender, clove. It took 2 months to even slightly regain these senses. A very depressing time! Even now, the smell and taste are not as powerful as they were, initial mouthfuls register but midway through a meal it depletes. I tend to eat more slowly with little breaks in mouthfuls so that it gives my senses time to ‘start again’. I’m hoping over time the healing process will increase and undo the damage...