Finland is set to launch a coronavirus-sniffing-dog pilot program at Helsinki Airport on Wednesday, hoping that dogs could come to play a key role in screening for COVID-19.
The voluntary canine tests will deliver results within 10 seconds, and require less than a minute of travelers’ time, said Anna Hielm-Björkman, a researcher at the University of Helsinki who is using the trial to gather data.
Researchers in other countries, including the United States and the United Arab Emirates, are studying canine coronavirus tests. But the Finnish trial is among the largest in scale and furthest along.
In Dubai, health officials this summer began using dogs to analyze sweat samples from randomly selected air travelers, with more than 90% accuracy, according to initial results.
Read more: Finland to deploy coronavirus-sniffing dogs at Helsinki Airport
