UK researchers hope dogs can be trained to detect coronavirus

500,000 government funding for project that could revolutionise' screening

• Coronavirus - latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Dogs are to be trained to try to sniff out the coronavirus before symptoms appear in humans, under trials launched with 500,000 of government funding.

Dogs have already been successfully trained to detect the odour of certain cancers, malaria and Parkinson's disease, and a new study will look at whether labradors and cocker spaniels can be trained to detect Covid-19 in people.