Finland; Finland has set up coronavirus-sniffing dogs at the Nordic main international airport in a four-month trial of an alternative testing method that could become a cost-friendly and quick way to identify infected travelers.Four dogs of different breeds trained by Finland’s Smell Detection Association started working Wednesday at the Helsinki Airport as part of the government-financed trial.
“It’s a very promising method. Dogs are very good at sniffing, If it works, it will be a good (coronavirus) screening method at any other places,” ,” Anna Hielm-Bjorkman, a University of Helsinki professor of equine and small animal medicine, said listing hospitals, ports, elderly people’s homes, sports venues and cultural events among the possible locations where trained dogs could put their snouts to work.
Finland is the second country after the United Arab Emirates -and the first in Europe to assign dogs to sniff out the coronavirus. A similar program started at Dubai International Airport over the summer.While researchers in several countries, including Australia, France, Germany the United States, are also studying canines as coronavirus detectors, the Finnish trial is among the largest so far.
Passengers who agree to take a free test under the voluntary program in Helsinki do not have direct physical contact with a dog.They are asked to swipe their skin with a wipe which is then put into a jar and given to a dog waiting in a separate booth.It takes the dog a mere 10 seconds to sniff the virus samples before it gives the test result by scratching a paw, laying down, barking or otherwise making its conclusion known. The process should be completed within one minute, according to Hielm-Bjorkman.
If the result is positive, the passenger is urged to take a standard polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, coronavirus test, to check the dog’s accuracy.The four sniffer dogs are set to work at the airport in shifts, with two on duty at a time while the other two get a break.
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