COVID CORNER

SNIFFING OUT COVID

n a bid to speed up Covid testing at airports and other public buildings, research has been carried out to see if dogs can be trained to detect people infected with Covid-19 by smell alone. Sniffer dogs have already been trained to detect the distinctive odours of diseases like cancer, malaria and Parkinson’s, picking up scents that are far below the level at which humans can smell them (see ). Six dogs were given socks, face masks, T-shirts and other items that had been worn by Covid sufferers to accustom them to the smell, then given rewards when they correctly identified whether a test item belonged to someone with Covid or not. In the tests, dogs were found to pick up 88% of infections,