With all the wrong moves that the state of Florida has made recently regarding the Covid-19 crisis, they finally got something right. They have hired two Covid sniffing dogs to detect the virus in employees passing trough a checkpoint before work. They can detect the presence of the virus in sweat, breath and scents. If the dog signals the odor of the virus on a person, that person will be asked to take a rapid coronavirus test.
This is a pilot program at MIA, the first airport to employ dogs to detect the virus. The most important fact to note, is the accuracy of the dogs. They are over 90% accurate in detecting coronavirus, much more accurate than a Covid-19 test. The problem is, training coronavirus detecting dogs can be time consuming and costly, but with such great results, you will see more of these dogs at airports as time goes on.
I can see the program expanding, to check airline passengers for Covid. Also, how about having dogs sniff out concert goers, or fans entering a football stadium? In the long run, it seems training mixed breed dogs that are stuck in shelters to sniff out the virus, might be much faster, more accurate, and less expensive than using human personnel to test people. It's a win/win the way I see it. The dogs get a new lease on life, and our community gets a more accurate way to detect the virus. We'll see how it goes.
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