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Penn State plans to screen students for COVID-19 with a scratch-and-sniff test. Scientists say it could be better than taking temperatures.

No one is recommending that smell tests replace traditional swab or saliva testing. But better education around this unique symptom could find cases earlier, even in people who feel fine.

In this file photo, Monell Chemical Senses Center neuroscientist Johan Lundström works with research assistant Eva Alden on a 2018 olfactory study. Now Lundström is looking at smell as an early warning sign of COVID.
In this file photo, Monell Chemical Senses Center neuroscientist Johan Lundström works with research assistant Eva Alden on a 2018 olfactory study. Now Lundström is looking at smell as an early warning sign of COVID.Read moreAKIRA SUWA / Staff Photographer