3 ms·

It's the number to eventually end the largest restrictions but keeping it low was always going to require either continued light lockdown or a large monitoring

by rtkwe 6y ago

It's the number to eventually end the largest restrictions but keeping it low was always going to require either continued light lockdown or a large monitoring project to catch and quarantine random popup cases like China is doing. Just recently in the US I've only had two places doing temperature checks which is wild to me at this point, it was the local courthouse and a random artists collective store I was visiting.

DerDangDerDang 6y ago
Wall-to-wall testing would be my preferred route. In fairness I think that would be gov.uk's preferred route too if they could organise it (they can't). I got temperature check and covid symptom questionnaire on entry to (private) hospital, but it's not widespread.
wutbrodo 6y ago
> Just recently in the US I've only had two places doing temperature checks which is wild to me at this point I've gotten a temperature check every time I've entered a commercial building for the last few months (in NYC), but temperature checks hew dangerously close to safety theater.
- rtkwe 6y ago
  It's a small thing that can catch some low symptom cases in the absence of randomized testing. It's not the most effective thing but I don't think it's theater.
  - jrumbut 6y ago
    It also (perhaps primarily) catches high symptom cases where the person decided to go out anyway. To add to the anecdata, in Massachusetts I've only had my temperature checked at a doctor's office but I've also visited very few places.
    - rtkwe 6y ago
      Yeah, though I'm not sure how much forced quarantine orders are being used in the US right now.
- mensetmanusman 6y ago
  It’s 100% safety theater, like masks worn on the chin.
twblalock 6y ago
Temperature checks won't catch asymptomatic people, and a lot of covid cases are asymptomatic. I don't see how temperature checks ought to make anyone feel safer.
- beervirus 6y ago
  They’re better than nothing, but not by much.
  - twblalock 6y ago
    They might be counterproductive, if they give people a false sense of security.
Kiro 6y ago
Temperature checks are pretty much useless. https://abc13.com/temperature-checks-covid-coronavirus-symptoms-screenings/7922615/ https://abc13.com/temperature-checks-covid-coronavirus-sympt...
- makomk 6y ago
  Yeah, the false positive and false negative rates are utterly atrocious - there's so many things that can cause raised body temperatures, a lot of people with Covid don't actually have fevers, and the thermometers used often aren't that accurate anyway. The problem is that the US media have quite consistently only reported on the fact that they're useless when talking about them being implemented in the US. When China and the WHO claimed they were the basis for China's success in containing the virus, pretty much everyone - including publications like the New York Times - uncritically regurgitated that claim. Same with places like (if I remember rightly) Taiwan using it for airport screening. Anyone who got their beliefs from the mainstream media would be left convinced that America was failing because it hadn't adopted these successful measures from places like China.

by rtkwe 6y ago

DerDangDerDang 6y ago

Wall-to-wall testing would be my preferred route. In fairness I think that would be gov.uk's preferred route too if they could organise it (they can't). I got temperature check and covid symptom questionnaire on entry to (private) hospital, but it's not widespread.

wutbrodo 6y ago

> Just recently in the US I've only had two places doing temperature checks which is wild to me at this point I've gotten a temperature check every time I've entered a commercial building for the last few months (in NYC), but temperature checks hew dangerously close to safety theater.

rtkwe 6y ago
It's a small thing that can catch some low symptom cases in the absence of randomized testing. It's not the most effective thing but I don't think it's theater.
- jrumbut 6y ago
  It also (perhaps primarily) catches high symptom cases where the person decided to go out anyway. To add to the anecdata, in Massachusetts I've only had my temperature checked at a doctor's office but I've also visited very few places.
  - rtkwe 6y ago
    Yeah, though I'm not sure how much forced quarantine orders are being used in the US right now.
mensetmanusman 6y ago
It’s 100% safety theater, like masks worn on the chin.

twblalock 6y ago

Temperature checks won't catch asymptomatic people, and a lot of covid cases are asymptomatic. I don't see how temperature checks ought to make anyone feel safer.

beervirus 6y ago
They’re better than nothing, but not by much.
- twblalock 6y ago
  They might be counterproductive, if they give people a false sense of security.

Kiro 6y ago

Temperature checks are pretty much useless. https://abc13.com/temperature-checks-covid-coronavirus-symptoms-screenings/7922615/ https://abc13.com/temperature-checks-covid-coronavirus-sympt...

makomk 6y ago
Yeah, the false positive and false negative rates are utterly atrocious - there's so many things that can cause raised body temperatures, a lot of people with Covid don't actually have fevers, and the thermometers used often aren't that accurate anyway. The problem is that the US media have quite consistently only reported on the fact that they're useless when talking about them being implemented in the US. When China and the WHO claimed they were the basis for China's success in containing the virus, pretty much everyone - including publications like the New York Times - uncritically regurgitated that claim. Same with places like (if I remember rightly) Taiwan using it for airport screening. Anyone who got their beliefs from the mainstream media would be left convinced that America was failing because it hadn't adopted these successful measures from places like China.