In what may be the most promising marriage of dogs and basketball since Air Bud, the NBA’s Miami Heat say they’ll allow fans back into games soon — using dogs to screen for COVID-19. Starting Thursday, just over 1,000 fans will be allowed at the Heat’s American Airlines Arena for games, providing they clear the dogs, which the Heat say have been trained for months to sniff out the virus. While research is limited, early studies have suggested that dogs may be able to detect COVID-19 in humans by smelling their sweat, and countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Chile have deployed them for screening in airports.
