A team of COVID-19 detector dogs have started screening for the virus at Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia (SA) as part of a six-week pilot study.
Trained by the University of Adeliade’s School of Animal and Vetinary Sciences, the four labradors and their handlers from SA Pathology will be stationed at the Emergency Dapartment (ED), with two dogs on site at a time.
Patients and visitors will be offered the opportunity to be screened during the triage process at the ED, and each dog will have the capacity to inspect up to 100 people an hour.
Senior lecturer at the University’s School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Dr Anne-Lise Chaber, said in a release on Wednesday that the pilot study is an exciting development which has the potential to be utilised in a range of setings to help prevent the spread of COVID-19….