India Coronavirus Dispatch: Why doctors can't swear by thermal scanners

Thermal scanners are everywhere in the fight against Covid, but doctors can’t swear by them

The image of a temperature gun pointed to a person’s head has become synonymous with the Covid-19 pandemic. Thermal scanners, popularly known as temperature guns, have been at the forefront of mass surveillance during this pandemic. They are being used to screen for fever at almost all public places — from malls, markets, offices, restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, to airports and metro stations.  Doctors who have been at the frontline of the pandemic, however, are questioning the accuracy of the thermal scanners in recording temperatures accurately.