Concord Native Describes Possible Coronavirus Symptom: Loss Of Smell, Taste

SOUTH DARTMOUTH (CBS) -- "It's definitely been a nightmarish couple of weeks. It's been one of the hardest couple of weeks of my life, for sure," said Vanessa Anderson. Her family is back in Massachusetts after getting out of the New York coronavirus hotspot, but not before being struck by the disease and dealing with strange symptoms: the loss of smell and taste.

"It's definitely weird. It's weird to not smell garlic. It's weird to not taste coffee," Anderson told WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill. "I'm just in total survival mode."

Originally from Concord, the Anderson family moved to Brooklyn recently. When New York became ground zero for the coronavirus, "we wanted to get out of New York. It was pretty scary to be there and my daughter has diabetes, so we really didn't want to get stuck there. So we came to my Dad's in Massachusetts," Anderson said.

First, her husband Ben got sick and tested positive for COVID-19. "He got fever, aches, and now he has the cough. We ended up spreading it to my dad and his wife, who are in their 70s. So the stress level has been off the chart," Anderson said.

But she felt OK, just a few sniffles she chalked up to allergies. Then her sense of smell and taste disappeared, a new possible coronavirus symptom.

"It's a weird pattern so I just wanted to let people know about it. If they have this, what I'm describing, they're going to know. Complete loss of taste and smell," Anderson said.

She realized she has the virus, too. "There's zero question in my mind that I've had it for 10 days."

Everyone in the family is living in different rooms while Anderson tries to hold down the fort, putting meals outside of bedroom doors and hoping her symptoms remain limited.

"It's happening. This is the worst-case scenario. Now we're just dealing with it, just day-to-day."

So far no one in the family has had to go to the hospital and they have a family friend, who's a doctor, checking in with them each day through Facetime.