When will my smell sense return? My PCR of covid19 was positive and I lost my sense of smell before 3 days. Jeff Diver · 15m ago retired reference assistant at Cornell University Library Haidar, First, some good news “…in most cases, SARS-CoV-2 infection is unlikely to permanently damage olfactory neural circuits and lead to persistent anosmia , …, a condition that is associated with a variety of mental and social health issues, particularly depression and anxiety.” [1] Now, the bad. Patience, however, will be required . A cursory survey of similar questions on Quora and on the web indicates that most patients regain their sense of smell or at least notice some improvement within 4 weeks of initial symptoms. [2] “ So why does smell not return in some cases? This is more theoretical but follows from what we know about inflammation in other systems. Inflammation is the body’s response to damage and results in the release of chemicals that destroy the tissues ...