Why Temperature Checks Are Not the Answer
Taking people’s temperature at airports and restaurants needs to be part of a more comprehensive strategy
Temperature screening has been recommended as part of a strategy for businesses that are reopening. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has guidance for how businesses can do so safely and protect the person taking temperatures.
Yet while temperature checks make sense in theory as a way to identify someone who is ill, some experts say that businesses and public spaces should not rely on them alone to keep the coronavirus at bay.
The issue is that while some people get a temperature when they contract the coronavirus, it’s not the case for everyone. And one unique aspect of the virus that causes Covid-19 is that infected people are contagious in the period before they start to develop symptoms (if they do eventually develop them). That’s why other protection methods, like wearing masks, making sure people are spread apart, and maintaining cleaning and disinfection procedures, are critical.
New data released from the clinical testing company Color found that among 30,000 people tested for Covid-19, 300 tested positive. Among those people, 30% had no symptoms when they were tested, 37% had a cough, 32%…
