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The dogs are part of an ongoing state-sponsored investigation that aims to find a cheaper alternative to Covid-19 testing at airports.
According to the researchers, these four dogs are capable of detecting the presence of the virus in 10 seconds, in a process at the airport that takes approximately one minute per person.
“It is very promising,” he told the British newspaper. The Guardian Hielm-Björkman, from the University of Helsinki, responsible for this research. “If it works, it can be used in other places” like hospitals or homes, for example.
The process is relatively simple. People arriving from a trip, after lifting their suitcases, are asked to wipe their necks with a cloth that is then placed in a bottle, along with others with different scents.
At that moment, the dog begins to smell. If it detects the presence of the new coronavirus, it begins to bark. If this happens, the passenger is instructed to perform the nasal test to make sure they are infected with the new coronavirus.
Preliminary tests The Guardian, indicate that these dogs, which had been previously trained to detect cancer or diabetes, managed to alert the presence of the virus with an efficiency of almost 100 percent.
In many cases, even several days before people start to have symptoms.
This phenomenon was explained by a recent study, carried out in France, which concluded that Dogs can distinguish by the smell of sweat from those who are infected.
Authorities in Vantaa, the city where Helsinki International Airport is located, say the study being carried out with these dogs costs about $ 300,000 and should take four months. A value, they add, substantially less than the cost of performing laboratory tests.
The number of dogs used for this work is expected to increase soon. Another 10, with a total of 16 who are being trained to detect the new coronavirus in the human body.
