Covid-19: Helsinki Airport to use trained dogs to identify coronavirus

Finnish airport operator Finavia has announced that Helsinki Airport is set to launch a pilot project that involves using trained dogs to identify coronavirus-infected passengers. The pilot is scheduled to commence this week and seeks to demonstrate the effectiveness of using canines to identify and restrict the spread of the novel coronavirus. The move follows a study at the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Helsinki, where preliminary tests showed that trained dogs can smell the virus with nearly 100% certainty. In addition, the dogs are able to identify the disease with a much smaller sample compared to the ones taken for PCR test. Finavia said that a dog needs between ten and 100 molecules to identify the virus, whereas test equipment requires 1.8m. The dogs to be deployed at Helsinki Airport are trained by Wise Nose.<br/>