Dogs to the rescue: Chile Police train canines to detect COVID-19 in early stages

The Chilean Police are training dogs to sniff out COVID-19 in people’s sweat at early stages, reported Reuters. This came after a similar trial in the United Kingdom showed positive results.

The four chosen dogs, a mix of golden retrievers and labradors, have been provided green ‘biodetector’ jackets for their task. They are being trained in Santiago, at the Chilean Carabineros´ specialist training base.

Lieutenant Colonel Cristian Acevedo Yanez, director of the police specialty training school, told Reuters that the dogs could play a major role as Chile gradually will reopen its schools and shops. He said that the three million olfactory receptors in dogs were uniquely placed and could help in fighting the virus. 

“The role of police is to strengthen our detection abilities in this ‘new normal’,” the police director said. “The idea is that our dogs would be in busy places such as schools, bus terminals and airports, and could detect people at an early stage of the disease to be able to isolate them and perform the appropriate PCR test, avoiding mass contagions,” he added.

Sniffer dogs are best-known for detecting drugs, explosives and people. However, they have also been trained to detect other diseases earlier, including malaria, cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

“Essentially what these dogs, four at first, and their guides, will do is save lives,” Yanez said.