Before welcoming fans back into their home arena, the Miami Heat NBA basketball team decided to use COVID-19 detection dogs to sniff out the unique scent of viral infection in fans and staff before they enter the building.

According to an article in the Miami Herald, team officials noted the use of dogs in airports around the world and thought this approach would work for them as well.  They already had experience with explosive sniffing dogs at the arena.

Research has shown that dogs have accurately detected the presence of COVID in a majority of cases.  One study found that the dogs had a success rate of 96%.

Fans will stand in socially distanced lines and the dogs will walk by each person.  It only takes a few seconds for a dog to detect the virus.  The dogs have been trained to sit by the person in question.

“What we’ve gleaned from the years of use of these types of dogs for detection of Parkinson’s, malaria, and cancer is that they can be pretty darn good and obviously be a lot faster and a lot more acceptable to the public,” said one doctor interviewed for the article.

Check out this NBC News video for more information on the use of these impressive dogs in Miami:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UNRM0l2Jls&w=560&h=315]

Top image:  Miami Herald