Your theory doesn’t explain the prevalence of highly unusual Covid-specific symptoms among the mix that makes up Long Covid (I’m thinking of strawberries smelling like burnt tyres)
The persistence of anosmia doesn’t entail that other symptoms are caused by Covid. (IIRC the relevant cells in the nose take a while to regenerate). Though I agree this provides some evidence that Covid is the cause.
There’s a second plausible mechanism with Covid: It affects blood vessels and lots of organ systems at once, so lasting damage causing fatigue seems to make sense
This predicts that you’d find organ damage in these patients. Are there studies showing clear organ damage in people with mild cases 6 months later?
Some people’s Long Covid symptoms are too outlierish in their severity to be anything that develops normally. E.g., people who used to be highly into sports report that they get out of breath just climbing stairs, and that this persists for a period of years. My impression is that this sort of thing never just happens without an identifiable cause.
I disagree. This does happen without an identifiable cause.
The persistence of anosmia doesn’t entail that other symptoms are caused by Covid. (IIRC the relevant cells in the nose take a while to regenerate). Though I agree this provides some evidence that Covid is the cause.
This predicts that you’d find organ damage in these patients. Are there studies showing clear organ damage in people with mild cases 6 months later?
I disagree. This does happen without an identifiable cause.
But it raises the probability.