Rant: Losing Taste & Smell

At this point, in less than six months, approximately 132,000 people in the U.S. have died from the Coronavirus, and of that amount, about 8,200 people have died in Massachusetts alone. Some people think our fears of the virus are irrational, and have even made silly statements such as you have a greater chance of dying from food poisoning than the virus. Such a load of BS.

In the U.S., about 3,000 people die each year due to food poisoning. In half that time, the coronavirus has already killed 132,000 people, about 44 times the amount who die annually from food poisoning. Just consider that statistic. It would take 44 years of food poisoning deaths to be equal to the amount of people who have already died from the coronavirus.

However, though death is the worst result of the coronavirus, we cannot ignore that the survivors may also acquire permanent and debilitating side effects. Just because you survived the coronavirus doesn't mean you have returned to your pre-virus health condition. Specifically, I want to address the matter of losing your sense of taste and smell. There isn't sufficient data yet about this problem, but the evidence does show it's very common for those who get the coronavirus to have a diminished sense of smell and taste. That diminishment remains with some people even after the coronavirus is gone.

A person close to me, who had the coronavirus about three months ago, still has a diminishment of their smell and taste. They might never regain their pre-virus smell and taste. And that is a scary and terrible situation! Would you want to lose your sense of smell and taste? Would you want a loved one to lose those senses? I very much doubt it.

For a food and drink writer like me and many others, that could be devastating. For chefs, cooks, wine makers, distillers, and those in similar positions, it would also be devastating. Even the average person would likely feel devastated if they could no longer taste their food, or if it tasted strangely different than it once did. It's not just some minor side effect of the coronavirus. This is a worrisome side effect that we must also consider when evaluating coronavirus risks.

There are other potential permanent effects from the coronavirus which could adversely affect your health. I just concentrated on one in this article. I know other people with other lingering conditions, which pose serious health threats. We can't just evaluate the danger of coronavirus by how many people it kills, even though that number is high. We have to also consider all of the potential risks to those who survive the disease as well.

Would you want to lose your sense of smell and taste?