In a new development which seems like it could be out of a Science Fiction novel, thermal imaging cameras are now being eyed to help monitor people for potential signs of the Coronavirus.
As CBS This Morning reports:
Thermal imaging cameras are the latest devices businesses hope will help reopen the economy while keeping people safe from the threat of COVID-19. The cameras are used to scan temperature from a safe distance, and if a fever — a common coronavirus symptom — is detected, the company could require further screening or deny the person entry altogether.
“What we’re seeing is there will be a new normal that will involve thermal screening as a frontline tool,” Chris Bainter, director of global business development at FLIR Systems, told CBS News’ Jericka Duncan. FLIR has been producing thermal imaging cameras since the SARS epidemic in 2003, when it gained widespread use in Asia.
Since the outbreak, companies like Flexible Systems, Thermal Guardian, CrowdRx and many more have begun manufacturing the cameras for use in airports, healthcare centers and even apartment buildings in New York, where the pandemic has hit particularly hard…
If a customer’s temperature is above 100.4 degrees, they are given a flyer that asks them to leave to protect others, and offers that the store does their shopping for them.
A store in Georgia has already set up a thermal imaging device to scan those entering. But, whether or not the devices are actually effective in detecting signs of the virus, such an invasive procedure could very well violate the constitutional rights of those being scanned without their consent.
Are thermal imaging cameras an important measure to help fight the coronavirus, and if so would you let yourself be scanned by a business operating one? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
Big Brother is watching.
NO! Monitoring to this extent is out of line and privacy invading!
Privacy of people can be violated as, besides showing a head with a temperature, it can also delineate the warmer areas of the body, including the groin area, in men and women. This is essentially spying on their private and intimate areas of their body, which would be forbidden.
Do you understand, sometimes a simply headache can trigger a temperature. And some people run a highly temperature, or a lower temperature, then the average 98.6. Also young children and babies often run a higher temperature.
No, because someone could have been out for a jog, walk, run or some type of exercise and have an elevated temperature unrelated to an illness.