Considerations and a call to action for the use of noncontact forehead infrared handheld thermometers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Wing P. Chan, Russell Oliver Kosik, C. Jason Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Early in January 2020, the WHO announced that temperature screening at entry was sufficient to detect the majority of imported COVID-19 cases [1]. As such, several countries began employing thermal screening in airports and public places as a preventative measure against the spread of coronavirus. A February 20th report from the WHO noted that among 55 924 laboratory confirmed cases of COVID-19 in China, 87.9% had a “fever” (no cutoff point reported), and people with COVID-19 generally developed signs (including fever) and symptoms on average 5-6 days following exposure (range 1-14 days or even longer). However, there is a lack of a universally accepted definition of what exactly constitutes “fever” when a noncontact infrared thermometer is used.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1-3
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Global Health
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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