La empresa FLIR, especializada en c\u00e1maras t\u00e9rmicas principalmente para uso en aplicaciones de defensa y seguridad, ha tenido un crecimiento exponencial en sus ventas, como consecuencia de la pandemia del COVID-19. Estos dispositivos de uso dual ya empleados en 2002 durante la epidemia de SARS, presentan hoy enormes avances en el desarrollo del software espec\u00edfico, la precisi\u00f3n de las mediciones, as\u00ed como una notable miniaturizaci\u00f3n de los equipos.<\/p>\n
Millions of people are waiting out the pandemic at home but many others still have to go to work in industries like food preparation, shipping, and manufacturing, particularly medical equipment. FLIR<\/span>, which makes thermal cameras for military intelligence collection and targeting, says they\u2019ve seen an \u201cexponential\u201d increase in sales to industrial customers who want to scan employees for fever \u2014 a key symptom of\u00a0COVID<\/span>-19.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether it\u2019s a medical organization that wants to have this screening before you enter a clinic or a hospital, whether it\u2019s other industries that are critical to manage the distribution of goods and such, they have to maintain a large workforce, etc. etc.,\u201d they\u2019re ordering thermal cameras like never before, FLIR<\/span> CEO<\/span> James Cannon\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Examples: Emirates Airlines is now screening all passengers headed<\/a> to the United States. The Wynn Resorts casino chain, currently closed by the outbreak, has nevertheless put in a large order<\/a> for the cameras. A grocery store chain in Atlanta is scanning customers and if the shopper presents a temperature above 100.4, the market will \u201cdiscretely inform\u201d them and find an alternative way to shop for them, the Atlanta Journal Constitution<\/em>\u00a0reports.<\/p>\n Beyond its military sales, which include cameras embedded in tiny bug drones<\/a>, FLIR<\/span> also sells thermal imaging equipment to the Department of Homeland Security for watching U.S.\u00a0borders.<\/p>\n Thermal cameras are useful for detecting people who are wearing camouflage. But it\u2019s not clear how helpful they are as public-health\u00a0tools.<\/p>\n \u201cJust last week, eight passengers who later tested positive for COVID<\/span>-19 arrived in Shanghai from Italy and passed the airport screeners unnoticed, for example. And even if screeners do find the occasional case, it has almost no impact on the course of an outbreak,\u201d notes<\/a> a March 6 story in Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n Studies suggest that COVID<\/span>-19 can spread before the appearance of symptoms, like cough and fever. But a high fever is associated with the\u00a0illness.<\/p>\n Cannon was careful to say that the cameras aren\u2019t scanning directly for the virus, but said they do accurately read temperature within .01 degree\u00a0Celsius.<\/p>\n