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Get Ready to Have Your Temperature Taken — a Lot
From here on out, security may involve a thermometer
Last week, I dropped by my recently reopened gym to restart my lapsed membership. As soon as I walked in the door, a woman pointed an infrared thermometer at my forehead.
I was instantly anxious — not because I felt sick or thought I had a fever but because it was about 100 degrees outside, and I worried about what would happen if my face was too hot.
This is a feeling we’d all better get used to: Temperature checks in public spaces may soon become as ubiquitous as bag checks at a stadium or metal detectors in the airport. As the Covid-19 pandemic wears on, hospitals, transportation hubs, malls, grocery stores, office buildings, and other institutions are expected to install fever detection systems and infrared imaging technology meant to monitor body temperatures, then identify — and ostensibly separate — people who may have an infection. Market reports predict a steep incline for thermometer sales: The industry is expected to hit $3.2 billion by 2027. But temperature checks, even if they happen constantly, won’t be enough to stop the contagion. Fever isn’t the only indicator of a Covid-19 infection, which makes the security measure inherently fallible.
