UAE gets sniffer dogs to detect Covid at airports

Travellers arriving at airports in the UAE could be among the first passengers in the world to undergo Covid-19 detection by police dogs. K9 sniffer dogs have been stationed at airports across the country to help detect traces of the coronavirus from passenger samples, according to a report by The National.

Specially trained dogs at Dubai International Airport are working to track possible infections using swabs gathered from arriving passengers. “An area was dedicated to detect Covid-19 using K9 police dogs at Dubai International Airport,” said Major Salah Al Mazrooei from Dubai Police. “Samples are taken in collaboration with partners from Dubai Health Authority; results are out in less than one minute,” he added.

It’s thought that dogs are able to detect traces of Covid-19 from samples of human scent, the report said.

Specialised teams of police officers have been working at airports across the country to supervise the K9 procedures. Travellers who have a fear of dogs do not need to worry as there is no direct contact between dogs and passengers. Instead, the animals are exposed to samples collected from travellers in an isolated room. The dogs can detect the possibility of infection in just a few seconds, said the report by The National.

The UAE has been using police dogs as an additional defence against the coronavirus. All travellers must abide by current regulations for arriving or departing the country. These include PCR-testing on arrival for passengers arriving from select countries and mandatory negative Covid-19 test certificates for all arrivals from August 1.