Dogs can smell COVID infections in patients, with as much accuracy as a PCR test. What's stopping us from building a machine that 'smells' the patients and detects it as well, if not better, than a dog?

While dogs have an incred ible sense of sm ell and can detect certain od ors with high accuracy , building a machine that can detect COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions with the same level of accuracy as a dog is a complex task . \n \n There are several reasons why a machine may not be able to rep licate a dog ' s ability to detect COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions : \n \n 1 . D ogs have a highly developed sense of sm ell : D ogs have a much more sensitive sense of sm ell than humans or machines . They can detect od ors at very low concentr ations that are und et ect able to humans . This allows them to accur ately identify the presence of COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions . \n 2 . D ogs are trained to detect specific od ors : D ogs are trained to detect specific od ors associated with COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions , such as the od or of the virus itself or the od or of certain chemical s produced by the body during in fection . Building a machine that can detect these specific od ors would require a significant amount of research and development . \n 3 . D ogs can distinguish between different od ors : D ogs can distinguish between different od ors , even if they are very similar . This allows them to accur ately identify the presence of COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions , even if the od or is present in a mixture of other od ors . \n 4 . D ogs have a high degree of accuracy : D ogs have a high degree of accuracy in detect ing COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions , with some studies suggesting that they can accur ately identify inf ected individuals with as much as 9 0 % accuracy . \n \n Wh ile it is possible to build a machine that can detect COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions using a person ' s breath or other bod ily flu ids , it is not clear if such a machine would be as accurate as a dog . Additionally , building a machine that can detect COVID - 1 9 in fe ctions would require significant research and development , as well as the use of special ized technology and equipment . </s>