The number of patients suffering from anosmia, or loss of smell, makes up a large proportion of the patients with symptoms of COVID-19 infection in Myanmar, a health official told Xinhua.

About 35 per cent of the total number of COVID-19 positive patients showed symptoms of infection while the rest are asymptomatic ones, said Khin Khin Gyi, director of Contagious Disease Prevention and Eradication Division of Public Health Department under the Health and Sports Ministry.

A total of 57 per cent of the patients with symptoms of infection lost sense of smell as an early sign, the director said.