COVID-Sniffing Dogs Will Screen Fans Before Miami Heat NBA Games

MIAMI, FL — Dogs could play a key role in the return of fans to National Basketball Association arenas and other sporting venues across the nation if the tactic used by one NBA team catches on.

The Miami Heat are taking a cue from several international airports by using coronavirus-sniffing dogs as a way to prevent against the spread of the virus while allowing some fans at home games.

The NBA team has been working on the plan for months, according to The Associated Press, and it will begin requiring fans to be screened by the virus-detection dogs before their Thursday night game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

“If you think about it, detection dogs are not new,” Matthew Jafarian, the Heat's executive vice president for business strategy, told the AP. “You’ve seen them in airports, they’ve been used in mission critical situations by the police and the military. We’ve used them at the arena for years to detect explosives."

Before entering the game, fans outside the AmericanAirlines Arena will have a dog walk by them, a video on the team website shows. If the dog does not give a signal, the fan can enter the game. If the dog sits in front of a person, that person and everyone with them will be denied attendance.

"In an effort to further enhance arena guest and staff safety, all individuals will be scanned by a COVID-19 detection dog upon arrival," the team states on its COVID-19 health and safety page.

Rapid tests that could take up to 45 minutes for results will be available for fans who are allergic to, or afraid of, dogs, the team said. The team plans to keep attendance at games to 2,000 fans at the most, less than 10 percent of the arena's capacity, the AP reported.

Virus-sniffing dogs have been used in various pockets of the globe over the past few months. They were introduced in September at Helsinki Airport in Finland and later put in place at airports in Dubai and United Arab Emirates, according to the AP.

The intriguing, yet imperfect, way to identify a coronavirus infection was called "a very promising method" by Anna Hielm-Bjorkman, a professor at the University of Helsinki, at the time.

The practice comes with some warning, however.

Epidemiologist Dr. John Brownstein told ABC News that while dog sniffing is an innovative tool, it shouldn't "give this false sense of security" to people who may have the virus but are not detected by the dog.

"And, truthfully, we should be still relying on widespread testing to fully get this pandemic under control."

So far, the Heat are the only American sports team that has adopted the virus-sniffing dog practice. At least one other NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, has made a statement against doing so, according to News 5 Cleveland.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.