It does seem like having symptoms really ups how infectious you are
"while we are learning that there are people who can shed COVID-19 virus 24-48 hours prior to symptom onset, at present, this does not appear to be a major driver of transmission. " WHO
'Some spread might be possible before people show symptoms; there have been reports of this occurring with this new coronavirus, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads. ' CDC
Singapore is doing twice a day checks for some people
'All employers should require their employees to check their temperature at least twice daily, check for respiratory symptoms, and for those unwell to visit a doctor immediately.' During SARS they did something similar 'Singapore became the so-called country of thermometers: temperature monitoring was made mandatory in schools and temperature screening was instituted at entry to public buildings.'
In China 'In every business I enter (whether that’s a restaurant, supermarket, or retailer), someone takes my temperature and asks me to write down my phone number. Taikooli, the large outdoor mall by where I live, has blocked off most entrances to corral people into temperature check zones'
Airport screening does not work as it only catches you if you are sick at just the right moment so the checks have to be regular.
What is the most efficient way to get peoples temperatures checked twice a day? Non-Contact Infrared Thermometer are cheap ($10). Paying people to hold them is expensive. Grabbing a thermometer others have grabbed sounds unhygienic. And trusting people to measure themselves expects a lot from them. But a thermometer held on a stand that checked people, that's cheap. Some logging would probably be necessary but lets work out the basic concept first.
Would twice daily temperature checks reduce R0? The idea is to reduce the period of time someone with symptoms is not isolated.
If so is there a way to set up a machine to check your temperature so they do not have to be manual?
No comments:
Post a Comment