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Are temperature checks effective in stopping the spread of the coronavirus?
- Use of ‘temperature guns’ is increasingly common as authorities and companies screen people entering buildings
- Questions remain over transmission by people who have not shown symptoms
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Temperature checks have become the new normal in airports, offices and even some residential buildings as authorities rush to contain the spread of the deadly new coronavirus, but medical and public health experts have said they are unlikely to detect infected people.
Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, had sickened more than 91,000 people and killed over 3,100 worldwide as of Tuesday.
Are ‘temperature guns’ reliable and accurate?
Handheld, non-contact infrared thermometers, or “temperature guns”, have emerged as a popular device to screen people for fevers during viral outbreaks.
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Although the guns can quickly measure surface temperature without touching people’s skin, experts said using non-contact devices to avoid spreading the infection meant some accuracy was sacrificed.
“In general, the remote infrared thermometers have been shown to be less reliable,” James Lawler, associate professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska, said. “As with skin contact thermometers, there are issues including sweating and heat loss that can affect temperature readings.”
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