wisepowder: Thermometer guns used to screen for coronavirus are 'notoriously' unreliable experts say

wisepowder

Thermometer guns used to screen for coronavirus are 'notoriously' unreliable experts say


As officials struggle to contain a new coronavirus spreading across the globe, travelers worldwide are undergoing unreliable temperature screenings, experts say.To get more news about Face recognition thermometer, you can visit jiminate official website.

The new coronavirus, first discovered in Wuhan, China in December, has infected nearly 67,000 people and killed more than 1,500, mostly within China. (For the latest case total and death toll, see Business Insider's live updates.) 

Airports, Chinese cities, and even Apple stores have instituted temperature checks to identify potential patients and prevent the virus's spread. To do this, many governments and businesses rely on thermometer guns — devices that use infrared sensors to measure a person's surface temperature without touching their skin.

"These devices are notoriously not accurate and reliable," Dr. James Lawler, a medical expert at the University of Nebraska's Global Center for Health Security, told The New York Times. "Some of it is quite frankly for show."That means that many coronavirus cases could go undetected through these temperature screenings.

To account for this possibility, the US has instituted a mandatory quarantine of up to two weeks for anyone who's been to China's Hubei province within the prior 14 days. But China now relies on daily temperature checks as it struggles to contain the virus. Most people wielding thermometer guns hold them too far from or too close to the subject, yielding temperature measurements that are either too hot or too cold, according to experts who spoke with The New York Times.

Lawler said that thermometer guns had suggested he was dying of hypothermia as he traveled through West Africa during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.My temperature was often 35 degrees Celsius or lower, which starts to become incompatible with life," Lawler said. "So I'm not sure those were accurate."

According to industrial supply company Grainger, the correct distance to hold a handheld infrared thermometer depends on the size of the target.What's more, environments like a dusty road or a hot car can affect the infrared temperature measurement.