Sniffer dogs are being trained to sniff out Covid-19 on humans and could become mainstream by Easter.
Recent trials have been successful in using canines to sniff out Covid-19 leading to enquiries for commercial use in shops, airports and public spaces in the UK.
The dogs have been trained by the charity Medical Detection Dogs and have been on trial at London Paddington train station this week.
“These dogs are simply amazing – they can smell the odour of Covid. Training is currently taking place to enable them to actually sniff out those carrying Covid-19 in busy areas, that’s some skill," explained Lilly Moss from security guard company Guards.co.uk.
It is hoped if the trials are successful the sogs will be able to work in early 2021.
Early detection of symptoms is key to isolating those with the virus.
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Lilly added: "The Covid-19 sniffer dogs take less than 1 second to sniff out the virus, and have been successful in detecting the virus even when no symptoms have been showing."
Health Secretary, Matt Hancok praised the idea after meeting the dogs at London Paddington.
He said: "You can immediately think of the number of uses that we could put this to - and find people who don’t know they have Covid."
If enough dogs are trained, Covid-19 sniffer dogs could become a regular sight in train stations, shopping centres and public spaces.
Lilly said: "We have already had enquiries from some large shopping centre clients about how we could integrate sniffer dogs into the regular patrols – they are jumping on every resource they can to keep open and trading."
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