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Dogs can be trained to detect COVID-19 cases: Study

Dogs had earlier already shown that they can sniff out maladies such as cancer, malaria and epilepsy.

Dogs can be trained to detect COVID-19 cases: Study
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A recent study has found that man’s best friend, dogs, are capable of detecting the coronavirus in 90 per cent of the cases, even when the patients are asymptomatic.

This study was conducted by researchers from the London School of Tropical Medicine. They wanted to see if dogs are able to use their strong sense of smell to detect COVID-19 in patients. Dogs had earlier already shown that they can sniff out maladies such as cancer, malaria and epilepsy.

According to reports, the researchers gathered samples of clothing and face masks from people who had tested positive for the coronavirus. After that, these samples were arranged in laboratories in order to conduct tests for six dogs who have been trained to detect either a presence or an absence of a chemical compound.  

Meanwhile, the dogs needed to be trained not to identify "false positives" in order to hack their reward system and obtain treats even if there were no COVID-19 samples in a given test. Furthermore, this new development could help detect positive patients at terminuses such as airports.

However, researchers have stated that more study needs to be done in order to ascertain that the dogs can reliably and specifically detect asymptomatic cases.

On the other hand, due to the fear of an upcoming third wave of COVID-19 across the state of Maharashtra, the state government is reportedly preparing to ease the state-wide lockdown in a phased manner in view of the decline in coronavirus cases and positivity rate in the state.

ALSO READ: Navi Mumbai: First-ever dog park to be opened soon in Vashi    

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