Could Skin Temperature Screening Help People Back to Worship More Safely?

AMETEK Land launched a new temperature screening system earlier this year, which could help prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19 throughout religious communities and beyond.

The VIRALERT 3 system, which has been developed over 10 years by LAND’s experts, provides real-time infrared thermal imaging from a safe social distance, scanning for elevated temperatures that could indicate infection.

Temperature screening systems have become an essential addition to the existing infrastructure of places of work and worship, particularly in areas where people gather, such as churches, mosques and synagogues.

Following the release of new UK government guidelines for places of worship, news reports have highlighted the use of temperature screening systems in places of worship across the UK to help people back to worship safely. The guidelines, which came into force in England on September 14, have been put in place to remind places of worship that they are also places of work. 

As the next few months will see some of the largest religious festivals; from Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Light in November and Hanukkah and Christmas in December, could installing temperature screening systems help worshipers gather more safely?

World-leading temperature monitoring expert’s at AMETEK Land, based near Sheffield in Yorkshire, believe they could, with the right equipment in place. 

VIRALERT 3 is the first of its kind, providing a camera and a temperature-controlled reference source on a single mounting as well as automatic face detection, taking a reading that’s accurate to within 0.5°C / 0.9°F in just two seconds.

It provides an effective solution for religious sites, scanning people on entry without causing unnecessary delays. The automated operation allows long lines of passengers to be processed quickly.

The VIRALERT 3 builds on AMETEK Land’s proven expertise in temperature technology. The company has been developing high-accuracy infrared measurement instruments since 1947, and has been creating human body temperature screening systems since responding to the SARS outbreak of 2003.