Scientists have shown SARS-CoV-2 infects cells through the use of its "spike" protein, which enables the virus to lock onto the surface of a human cell via a receptor known as ACE2.

Datta and his team suspected that nerve cells responsible for smell may be damaged by the virus and so went looking through datasets to see if the cells contained ACE2 and one other protein that helps SARS-CoV-2 get inside cells.

The datasets suggest its not nerve cells that SARS-CoV-2 enters, but a different subset of "epithelial" cells -- the cells on the surfaces inside your nose

A particular subset of cells -- sustentacular cells -- may also be negatively affected, which could manifest as a loss of smell. 

The work by Datta and colleagues suggests the effects may be long-lasting -- because SARS-CoV-2 can also infect the stem cells, those cells which eventually mature into functional cells in the nose