Some health officials see little use in employing temperature checks in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, saying these screenings do nothing more than offer a bit of pandemic theater for the public.
The New York Times reported last week that some governors have incorporated temperature checks into their coronavirus mandates. Running a fever is one of the hallmark symptoms of COVID-19, and they see these ubiquitous digital thermometers as just one extra step to protect the public.
The report said a person who clearly is running a fever will likely not venture outside. It has long been known that the most dangerous virus carriers are the ones who are asymptomatic and who appear otherwise healthy.
There have been studies, however, that show many patients who have been hospitalized with symptoms do not present a fever. Those who have a fever and take ibuprofen can also slide by some of these scans.
“We have found at the NIH, that it is much, much better to just question people when they come in and save the time because the temperatures are notoriously inaccurate many times,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, according to Quartz.
The Times reported that the CDC seemed to reverse its earlier call to check workers for symptoms like fevers.
Dr. David Thomas, an infectious disease specialist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told the paper that these temperature checks are equivalent to “getting the oil checked before you go on a long car trip. It makes you feel better, but it’s not going to keep you from wrecking the car or prevent the tires from falling off. It’s not going to make your trip any safer.”
Temperature checks have been used at schools in other countries such as Turkey, and they are growing in popularity due to the widespread use of no-contact thermometers.
Önder Ergönül, the Chair of Infectious Diseases at the Koç University School of Medicine in Istanbul, told Quartz he would describe temperature checks as “tedious but minimally effective.”
