Man's best friend, will the dog be the guardian angel for basketball fans in NBA theaters in the months to come?
It's possible.
While signs of the pandemic slowing are visible in the United States, some franchises in the league are once again welcoming audiences to theaters, depending on the health situation in the states.
Atlanta, Memphis, Cleveland, Houston, Orlando, Utah and Miami have opened, or are preparing to do so, the doors of the speakers to the public to welcome a few hundred spectators.
The dogs in full labor before the Miami-LA Clippers game last Thursday.
The Florida franchise thus wishes to initially fill the American Airlines Arena up to 10% of its capacity (2,000 spectators for 21,000 seats).
To reduce the risk of the virus spreading, the Miami Heat has decided to use sniffer dogs, already used in some airports to detect people infected with Covid-19.
Any ticket holder therefore passes in front of a dog responsible for detecting or not the presence of the virus.
If the dog sits down, the test is positive and the bystander is not authorized to enter.
If he continues on his way, the test is negative.
If the dog sits in front of the spectator, the test is positive
Dogs would be able to detect the presence of Covid-19 through body perspiration.
They have also been trained not to react when a bystander has been vaccinated.
This measure comes to accompany other more traditional measures1: the wearing of the obligatory mask, the respect of rules of distance between each spectator who will have answered a questionnaire before entering the room.
Individuals who are allergic to or fearful of canines will also be able to take a mandatory antigen test for all those lucky enough to obtain tickets allowing them to be seated within nine meters of the players during the match.
More than satisfactory results for detecting Covid-19
In France, Professor Dominique Grandjean's team has been training dogs to detect the smell of Covid-19 for several weeks.
And the results were more than satisfactory.
"Depending on the dog, we shoot between 90 and 99.5% success."
For comparison, the success rate for PCR tests ranges between 90 and 95%.
The Miami Heat used COVID-19-sniffing dogs as the team reopened their home arena to a limited number of fans https://t.co/d22mSJXVmOpic.twitter.com/xUKBEUG6sr
- CBS News (@CBSNews) January 29, 2021
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