Making people stand in front of a scanner to have their body temperature read can result in a large number of false negatives, allowing people with Covid-19 to pass through airports and hospitals undetected.
Thermal screening to spot people infected with coronavirus is more reliable when scanning the eyeball and fingertip than taking body or forehead measurements.
Experts in human physiology published a scientific article on the usefulness of thermometers which scan a person s skin to detect a fever.
They say the current process is fundamentally flawed and produces a large number of false negatives, as well as some false positives, and also because not all people infected with the coronavirus develop a fever.
Taking two measurements from specific locations on the body with ample blood flow allows for a more reliable estimate of the true core body temperature and if it is elevated due to fever, the researchers believe.