Replace scary temperature gun with ‘camera’

With temperature guns having become standard equipment for Covid-19 testing, widely used in non-contact body temperature measurement at places like borders, airports, shopping malls, offices and hospitals, we should use gadgets that are not scary.

I teach in a school in an informal settlement, where some of my students have experienced gun violence.

In order not to ignite those nasty experiences, it will be necessary to think about the emotional resonance of gun-shaped devices.

The damage we are causing our schoolchildren by continuing to use the temperature guns is greater than that of contracting the coronavirus.

Cognitive psychologist Amy Schwartz explains the importance of considering the aesthetics alongside the medical functions performed by the devices.

She says humanising this particular medical device will bring better adherence and patient health, especially to the young learners.

In what could be a national first, the Nyandarua devolved government is reportedly acquiring thermal imaging cameras for distribution to all schools in the county to measure students’ temperature.

This rechargeable thermometer can produce 1,000 temperature readings at once, one for each pixel in the thermal image.

In lay language, a single thermal imaging camera is equal to thousands of the common spot pyrometer sensors. It can take 19,200 readings at a glance.

Secondly, since it is time we learnt to live with Covid-19, there is a need to train at least two male and two female school staff on how to take someone’s temperature.

If you hold the gadget too close to the forehead, you get a high reading; too far, you get an unusually low one.

It is also important to learn to construct appropriate environments, avoiding dusty roadsides and asking questions such as if somebody had taken medication to suppress a fever.

Dr David Turuthi (PhD), deputy principal, Flamingo Secondary School, and educational communication and technology expert

The methods of “mass testing” for Covid-19 in some areas are alarming. Only one’s temperature is taken, yet research has shown 90 per cent of positive cases are asymptomatic (they do not show any symptoms of the disease).

If your temperature is above 40, you are likely to be taken to a quarantine facility, where the chances of contracting the coronavirus are high, yet the reading could be a sign of other diseases — such as malaria.

A high body temperature is not the only symptom of Covid-19 but also sneezing, difficulty in breathing and a dry cough. One could have a low temperature and wrongly believe they are safe.

Quinter Simiyu, Uasin Gishu