The hot summer weather and the influx of tourists has led us to largely forget about the coronavirus pandemic. Very few masks are to been seen anywhere in Kolymbari except in the SYNKA supermarket. However, the virus is still very much with us. The government now publishes covid data weekly instead of daily, and the latest figures show that there were nearly 45,000 infections and 100 deaths nationwide in the period 19^th to 25^th September. With the return to school and the advent of cooler, wetter weather these figures can only be expected to increase.

Anosmia – a symptom of covid

One of the characteristic symptoms of covid infection is the loss of the senses of taste and smell. The complete loss of the sense of smell is called anosmia, and it is estimated that up to 60% of people experience anosmia when infected with Covid-19. Anosmia can also be caused by growths in your nose and other illnesses such as a cold or flu.

Taste and smell are an integral part of many social activities and may be associated with precious memories, and anosmia can be traumatic in its effects, especially if it is permanent. Fortunately for most people it is a temporary phenomenon as the olfactory nerves are not permanently damaged. Others, however, have to live with it for long periods of time and there are few available remedies. The Monell Centre, mentioned in another post, is running a programme of reasearch into anosmia which includes a training programme to help long-term sufferers to recover their sense of smell.

In a YouTube video Dr Scott Klioze describes the physical processes involved in taste and smell and how they are affected by covid, while in another Chris Kelly, a long-term anosmia sufferer, describes her personal experience of the condition and offers some techniques derived from her participation in a smell training session at the Monell Centre in 2016.