It is known that dogs can detect cancer cells, explosives, drugs, and track and find lost people or animals – all by using the power of their noses and the part of their brain that analyses and processes those scents.

So do they have the ability to detect Covid-19 too?

Finland is the first European country that uses dogs to detect Covid-19 in Finland’s Helsinki-Vantaa airport and results were surprisingly good and promising as testing has shown an accuracy level of nearly 100% even 5 days before actual symptoms appear.

Currently, there are 6 dogs operating at Helsinki- Vantaa airport.

The dogs are scheduled to continue screening arriving passengers at least until the end of the year, but according to the project leaders, the project is likely to continue until summer 2021.

According to unric.org, the passenger takes a skin swipe according to the instructions given and drops the sample into the container provided for it.

The dog and its trainer are behind a wall, where the dog sniffs the given sample.

In this way, passengers who are allergic to dogs are taken into consideration, and care is taken that the trainers are not subjected to the coronavirus.

Personal information is not collected at the sampling station.

If the result is positive, the passenger is directed to the Helsinki University Hospital’s health information station for further instructions. Dogs themselves cannot catch coronavirus since they lack the receptor to which the coronavirus attaches.

Researchers in countries including Australia, France, Germany, and Britain are reportedly working on similar projects but Finland is the first country in Europe to actually enlist dogs to work sniffing out the coronavirus.

At the moment Finland is cooperating with 20-30 countries on research related to covid sniffing dogs.

Well done Finland, once more!