The deployment of sniffer dogs at airports to detect COVID-19 is proving to be as efficient as a standard Rapid Antigen Test (RAT), as the highly trained dogs successfully helped identify 26 inbound passengers who later tested positive for the virus.
According to reports, the on-duty aviation officials told journalists that the twenty-six COVID-positive passengers arrived at the airport through 6 flights on Tuesday, 1st June. In the meantime, these passengers have been handed over to concerned authorities as dictated by the pandemic protocols.
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On Wednesday, 2nd June, 166 passengers landed at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport on another private carrier’s flight. The aviation officials on-site took samples for COVID-19 from the passengers, but the sniffer dogs did an even better job by detecting 14 passengers who had the COVID-19 virus.
Similarly, on 29th May, 14 passengers arriving through a private airline were reportedly sniffed out by the sniffer dogs at the airport.
The Armed Forces of Pakistan provided the specially trained dogs at the airports after their services were approved in principle by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
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How Sniffer dogs are helping detect COVID-19 faster than standard Antigen Tests
A study from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has discovered that dogs can detect COVID-19 on clothing worn by infected people with a 94 percent accuracy.
These dogs can identify the virus immediately, furiously wagging their tails, whining or standing stock still when they catch the scent, while passing by other people who don’t have the virus.
