When does your taste come back after Covid and why some people lose it

Covid cases are starting to rise across the UK with 2.7m people said to have had the virus in the past week. According to the Office for National Statistics this figure is up 18 per cent on the previous week.

Of the many symptoms of COVID-19, loss of taste is one of the most common, and is often accompanied by a loss of smell. You may find your favourite foods taste and smell differently following a Covid infection.

There is currently no long-term data about recovery of taste and smell from a Covid infection, according to the NHS. Studies of loss of smell caused by other viruses show the senses can return within a couple of weeks for some, while for others it can take up to 18 months.

READ MORE: How to treat Covid symptoms at home and the treatments available on the NHS

The NHS say about one in 10 cases of taste and smell problems persist following recovery from Covid infection. From their knowledge of other viruses, they say around a third of people will see recovery of their sense of smell over three years.

Research by University College London Hospitals shows some patients with Covid partially recover their sense of taste and smell but describe some things tasting and smelling different. When we eat, the flavour of food is the combined experience of smell and taste together.

We have five basic tastes – sweet, sour, salty, bitter and ‘savoury’ (called umami) – which are not normally affected when we lose our sense of smell because they are detected with the tongue. However, there is evidence that Covid can cause true taste to be affected as well.

Food can taste bland, salty, sweet or metallic. This occurs when the virus damages the olfactory receptor nerve endings – the part within the nose that allows us to smell –