COVID sniffing K-9s used in Massachusetts schools

2 years ago 388

BOSTON (CBS) – COVID sniffing constabulary K-9s volition beryllium successful immoderate Massachusetts schools this week. The one-year-old labs with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office person been trained to observe COVID-19.

On Wednesday, Huntah and Duke volition spell to enactment successful Freetown, Lakeville and Norton schoolhouse districts.

“With COVID, whether it’s the Omicron, whether it’s the Delta, our dogs volition deed connected it,” said Bristol County Capt. Paul Douglas. “And if there’s a caller variant that comes retired successful six months, hopefully determination isn’t, but if determination is one, COVID is COVID.”

If 1 of the dogs smells COVID connected a desk, keyboard oregon trash barrel, they volition beryllium down, alerting unit that the country has been exposed to the microorganism and needs to beryllium cleaned.

“One bully happening astir COVID is it’s casual to destroy,” Douglas said. “It doesn’t similar chemicals. Spray it down, hitch it and it eliminates the virus.”

Fairhaven School Superintendent Tara Kohler is thrilled to person the dogs.

“I spot it arsenic a large accidental for kids to admit that we are doing everything we tin to mitigate the hazard and I privation them to consciousness unafraid and harmless and not anxious astir their surroundings,” Kohler said.

“We’ll spell close into the schoolroom if the students are successful there, and our dogs really enactment close done it,” Douglas said. “They conscionable locomotion close through, they spell implicit the backpacks, astir the teachers.”

The detection programme was developed by Florida International University’s International Forensic Research Institute. Scientists determination accidental the dogs are 99% close successful detecting COVID.