Heat’s New Secret Weapon – COVID Sniffing Dogs
By Jarrod Mains
The Miami Heat are getting some of the best fans in the league back in the building by using man’s best friend.
The Miami Heat didn’t pull this idea out of nowhere though. Its been in the works for quite a while.
This is what Matthew Jafarian, the Heat’s Executive VP for Business Strategy, told CNN.
"“During the NBA bubble is really when we started researching…how we could bring back fans safely into the arena. We looked at a variety of options. There were Breathalyzer tests that we looked at. We looked at traditional diagnostic tests, like rapid antigen and PCR tests. And we thought through operationally how we could administer that to hundreds and thousands of people coming into the building.”"
It seems the Heat ultimately thought dogs were the best option. Or at least the most cost-effective, as a PCR tests typically cost at least $100 each.
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Finland was the first country in Europe to use coronavirus detection dogs to help sniff out COVID-19 at its airports back in September 2020. Germany was the first to publish a study about whether dogs can detect COVID-19 in July 2020.
Proponents say dogs are a quicker and less expensive way to test people for the coronavirus. But are they more effective?
While the jury is still out, early research is showing disease detecting dogs to be very accurate, as 30 countries worldwide continue gathering evidence and collaborating with each other. This article from The Guardian cites several studies if you want to dive into the science a bit deeper.