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British RoyalsCoronavirusKing Charles III

A brush with politics as The Duchess of Cornwall supports canine COVID-19 project

The Duchess of Cornwall saw first-hand how Medical Detection Dogs are being trained to detect COVID-19 in people when she paid a visit to London Paddington station.

Camilla, who is patron of the Medical Detection Dogs organisation, viewed a training session at the station on October 27th 2020. The COVID-19 Detection Dog Project is supported by her patronage, as well as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Durham University, and is still in the trial phase to see if dogs are able to detect a COVID-19 odour.

The dogs currently being trained to detect a COVID-19 odour are undertaking exercise sessions at a school, a football stadium and a shopping centre. If it works, according to Clarence House, it could “revolutionise diagnosis of the disease by enabling screening of high numbers of people, even if asymptomatic.”

Medical Detection Dogs are currently trained to find odours related to cancer, malaria and Parkinson’s Disease. Some are trained as Medical Alert Assistance Dogs and they live with people who live with complex health conditions so that they are about to “detect minute changes in their personal odour and alert them to an impending medical event.”

Camilla was joined by Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. She told reporters who asked if Hancock’s presence could be a sign of support for the project, “We hope so, fingers crossed. I think they were impressed. How could they not be?”

During the demonstration, the two dogs, Bob and Basil, were able to pick the person wearing an item of clothing that had the odour of COVID-19 on it six times. The dogs are also able to detect an asymptomatic COVID-19 carrier within half a second.

Hancock filmed a video for his own social media accounts with the dogs, saying, “These dogs can detect coronavirus in the same way that they could detect drugs, or you can detect other things – and I’ve seen it for myself, absolutely brilliant.”

Camilla also took time to meet with the British Transport Police Staff and Network Rail Staff to thank them for their service throughout the pandemic. They discussed their work with The Duchess and also let her know how they have been impacted by COVID-19.

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.