Helsinki Airport set to deploy COVID-19 sniffer dogs

Later this week, four dogs of different breeds would start working at Helsinki Vantaa International Airport to sniff COVID-19 in people, according to Wise Nose, Finland Smell Detection Association, which is responsible for the training and deployment of the dogs.

Release time : 2020-09-27 12:38:22

source : Xinhua

Later this week, four dogs of different breeds would start working at Helsinki Vantaa International Airport to sniff COVID-19 in people, according to Wise Nose, Finland Smell Detection Association, which is responsible for the training and deployment of the dogs.

Four specially trained dogs demonstrated their ability to sniff COVID-19 in people even before showing symptoms during a press conference held at Helsinki Vantaa International Airport on Tuesday. The pilot project is scheduled to commence later this week.

The dogs showed the assembled journalists the whole process of how they sniff the samples and identify the suspected COVID-19 infections.

When passengers arrive at a COVID-19 dog sampling point at the airport, they would enter a small, screened area where they would be required to swab their skin with a wipe and drop it into a designated container as instructed. A dog and its handler would wait behind a wall where the dog would sniff the swabs.

The whole procedure would take about a minute. If the test result is positive, the passenger would be directed to the health information point for further instructions.

Later this week, four dogs called Kossi, Miina, ET and Valo -- all different breeds -- would start working at the airport, according to Wise Nose -- Finland Smell Detection Association, which is responsible for the training and deployment of the dogs.

Participation in dog-assisted COVID-19 testing is currently voluntary. All passengers and airport staff can apply for testing, which is effortless and painless, Wise Nose told Xinhua.

In spring this year, the University of Helsinki had tested a group of trained sniffer dogs, and found them to be able to learn and work fast and even perform better than the current COVID-19 tests that are based on molecular techniques. The trained dogs had previously been employed to identify different types of cancer, said the university.

Dogs can also detect the novel coronavirus from a significantly