After deploying robots and drones to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, Rwandan health officials have resolved to use trained sniffer dogs to detect suspected cases effective by next month, an official source confirmed to APA Wednesday.
According to the Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC), Dr Sabin Nsanzimana, a memorandum of understanding has been signed to this effect earlier this week between the Rwandan government and Germany.
“Odor identification of Covid-19 using dogs” is the new approach that will be adopted in the fight against the pandemic in Rwanda, drawing in particular from the experiences of Germany and Finland, it said.
The use of sniffer dogs aims to identify positive cases for Covid-19 in public spaces and to meet the growing demand for rapid and non-invasive screening tests, according to the same source.
The new project will especially speed up Rwanda’s testing capabilities, especially in public places where mass testing will be needed, thanks to the sniffer dogs having a detection rate of 94%, Dr Nsanzimana said
Reacting to this innovation, the German Ambassador to Rwanda, welcomed this partnership and cooperation with Rwanda.
As of Wednesday, 24 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Rwanda, raising the tally of the country’s positive cases to 5,750
The results were obtained from 2,317 Covid-19 sample tests taken in the last 24 hours.
In total, 5,241 people have recovered from Covid-19 in Rwanda.
CU/as/APA