Dogs could be hired by the NHS to screen up to 750 key workers an hour for coronavirus. Medical detection dogs have already been used to sniff out cancer, Parkinson’s, and malaria.
But a new collaboration between a dog charity and two leading universities could see pooches trained to diagnose coronavirus patients.
Professor James Logan of the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said six dogs are ready to be trained. The dogs will be given samples of fabric worn by coronavirus patients to see if there is a unique odour they can detect.
Eight weeks later, the animals could be deployed into hospitals to screen doctors and nurses for the bug. Dr Claire Guest, CEO and founder of the Medical Detection Dogs charity, said: “There have