The antiviral drug ensitrelvir eases both smell and taste loss, and is one of the few COVID-19 drugs available to people not at high risk of grave illness.

New clinical-trial data suggest that an antiviral pill called ensitrelvir shortens the duration of two unpleasant symptoms of COVID-19: loss of smell and taste. The medication is among the first to alleviate these effects and, unlike other COVID-19 treatments, is not reserved only for people at high risk of severe illness.