The COVID-19 crisis has led to spurt in demand for several personal protective gear besides hospital equipment. First, it was ventilators for hospitals, now it is thermal body scanners for factories.
As manufacturers and businesses prepare to resume operations, demand for thermal-imaging equipment is soaring. This is because of need to screen body temperature of workers to prevent the spread of COVID-19. To keep with this, two leading manufacturers in the industry – Flir Systems Inc. and closely following Seek Thermal Inc. – stated they are pushing manufacturing to meet demand.
“Meanwhile, at the start of the pandemic, when the virus spread in Europe and North America, the need of protective gear was for more for Fortune 500 companies, health-care networks, hospitals, and immediate needs from essential businesses that needed to operate,” stated CEO Flir Systems Inc. In the months following, need of protective gear has shifted to safety of workers when they are allowed to return to work.
As a result, on Monday and Tuesday, Flir’s stock gained more than 18% buoyed by prospects from news of the industry. This is from cue of Amazon.com Inc.’s plans to use thermal cameras at its Wholefoods Locations and warehouses. Conversely, Amazon didn’t identify the company that is making its scanners, and Flir declined to comment. Also, Seek Thermal stated it did not supply equipment to Amazon.
Besides Manufacturing Units, Automakers using Thermal Scanners too
Besides, automakers, which includes General Motors Co. confirmed they are using thermal scanners for safety of workers. The automaker did not name the company supplying equipment.
Clinically, scanners can be used to find higher body temperatures – a common symptom of COVID-19. The device measures temperature on the surface of the skin using infrared light to create a thermal image. The functionality of the device varies from basic hand-held ones, to complex fixed-position scanners.