The author makes an analysis between thermal cameras vs cameras of capacity control and detection of face masks.
by José Clavo*
Since the appearance of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19), the scientific world specialized in the health of the population has entered a state of alert for the pandemic caused by said virus, whose most relevant characteristics have been the high percentage of pollution, speed of spread by air, asymptomatic portability that contributes to involuntary spread, the high mortality rate and the absence of a vaccine that helps control its lethality.
This virus, whose origin is still the subject of analysis and discussions about whether it was created and evolved naturally, has generated a strong erosion in the global financial and health system without precedent.
Without a medical formula to end this disease in the short term, scientists have had to generate social behavior protocols that help decrease the ability of the virus to spread, in order to save as many lives as they work desperately to find a vaccine that can serve to mitigate the disease and effectively reduce the lethality of the virus. and to return to the population the possibility of returning to life that until 8 months ago was normal for the entire global population.
In this sense, technology companies have dedicated themselves to working to present different devices that contribute to the detection of potential carriers with sufficient anticipation and thus contribute to the reduction of the spread of the disease. Thus, based on the symptomatic clinic of the virus, a very wide range of thermal cameras have appeared focused on the detection of febrile states in humans, with a view to being able to identify potential carriers of the virus based on the reading of body temperature, and in this way separate these individuals from the rest, those who do not show symptoms of any kind.
The problem with thermal cameras is that the sensors used to perform such temperature readings lack the precision needed to establish with certainty the febrile state of the human body. The human body by its nature, in the superficial reading of temperature, can give inaccurate results that are influenced by many external factors that do not accurately reveal the true state of body temperature. For example, the temperature reading of a body that comes from walking or performing any exercise exposed to the sun in the open, is very different from the body temperature of the same person performing the same activity under the shade of a roof, and even different from the temperature taken to the same body in the same activity under air conditioning conditions.
To the above, we must add the great doubts about how much damage to health could be generated from the direct emission of infrared rays against the human body, specifically in the area of the face and eyes (which is the body area to which thermal cameras direct IR rays to take temperature parameters) by additional exposure to this type of radiation. But thermal cameras show their greatest inefficiency by not detecting asymptomatic people carrying the virus in the contagious stage, because these people spread the virus even without them being aware of being carriers and spreaders of it.
Taking into account that the community of global scientists have established a protocol of 3 very simple factors, but that have demonstrated high efficiency fighting the spread of the pandemic and reducing pollution, and of which there are proven statistics. This protocol consists of the following:
1. Social distancing.
2. Uses of masks that hide the mouth and nose. (prevents the spread of the virus)
3. Extreme personal hygiene conditions with emphasis on hand washing using detergent and alcohol.
Based on the above, the cameras of capacity control, and detection of masks become the most cost-effective technology to contribute to the reduction of the pandemic spread of covid-19, since they offer a better control of the number of people allowed in enclosed spaces, detect if people are wearing masks, and replace the presence of a dedicated guard at each entrance of the establishments that require capacity control; they do not yield inaccurate data, and avoid approaching asymptomatic carriers.
Another aspect mentioned by scientists is that the mutability of the virus attributes to it the ability to remain among us even when the vaccine for it is obtained, so this virus has come to stay and remain among us for many years if not forever. At least until we get a radical cure, so this protocol of the 3 fundamental aspects of social behavior will remain the most efficient way to combat it for a long time.
This is the reason why the governments of many countries have implemented temporary or permanent ordinances among which we find, social distancing, prohibitions of mass gatherings, mandatory use of face masks, capacity control in all types of public or commercial establishment, regulations on the use of mass public transport, among others, being for these cases much more efficient cameras with capacity control analytics and detection of face masks.
So the truly effective technology to contribute to reducing the spread of this pandemic is the implementation of capacity control cameras and mask detection.
* Jose Clavo. Sales Manager of Motorola Security.
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