Coronavirus Technology Solutions
April 22, 2020
Two Crucial Factual Errors Relative to
Coronavirus
Walk in Temperature Sensors Installed at City
Farmers Market
Tyson Foods Purchased More Than 150 Infrared
Walk-Through Temperature Scanners
JBS Closes Third Plant but Reopens One in
Pennsylvania
Kraft Heinz and
Conagra Plants Closed Due to Infected Workers
FBIA Relying on Outdated CDC Face Mask
Recommendations
Interim Guidelines for Non-Health Care Settings
_____________________________________________________________________________
Two Crucial Factual Errors Relative to
Coronavirus
There are two major misconceptions regarding the
coronavirus
1.
You are
relatively safe if you keep a distance of 6 feet
2.
Masks
cannot protect you
It has long been established that viruses can
travel long distances
Fine droplets or particulate with viruses can
travel through HVAC systems and in the case of
the Diamond Princess infect passengers who were
isolated in cabins.
In just two hours a singer in a
Washington State church choir managed to infect
45 of 60 choir members who were
practicing social distancing.
The fact that the virus is carried by air
currents means that you would be safer one foot
ahead and walking into the wind rather than 20
feet behind.
Since the droplets can remain airborne
for hours there is no really safe distance.
There is a big variation
in mask efficiency. Wearing a scarf
provides almost no protection.
Wearing an N100 mask keeps you well
protected.
Hospital personnel wearing N95 or higher
efficiency masks work in close proximity to
patients who are generating millions of viruses
per hour and yet they are protected. Viruses are
less than 0.2 microns and could pass through the
filter openings. But Brownian movement of these
small particles causes them to impinge on larger
particles or on the filter fibers. The N100 mask
would be the most desirable but in practice the
N95 provides a high measure of safety.
Comfort and breathability are two additional
concerns when N95 or higher efficiency masks are
used. The use of a valve allowing unfiltered
breath discharge keeps the wearer comfortable
but does not protect others.
Fashionable and comfortable high efficiency
masks have been sold in dedicated Chinese retail
stores since 2013. If everyone at risk wears a
mask then there is less concern about the direct
breath discharge feature.
Without the valve feature the general use
of higher efficiency but higher pressure drop
masks would not be practical.
New media being developed has lower resistance
and may result in masks which will protect both
the wearer and others. But in the meantime the
mask with the valve should become the primary
protection mechanism and not six foot
distancing.
The various technology impacts are reviewed in
the daily alerts which are part of Coronavirus
Market Intelligence
LINK
Walk in Temperature Sensors Installed at City
Farmers Market
In an attempt to protect shoppers and his
employees from contracting the coronavirus, Ben
Vo, the owner of City Farmers Market, a chain of
grocery stores in Georgia, recently set up
thermal cameras at the entrances of each of his
six locations.
"It’s focused on the face, so basically we
measure the head temperature as they walk into
the store," Vo said. "It’s in the corner, not
right in front of the entrance, and we have an
LCD monitor that security personnel can watch
and the customers can also see."
If an associate sees a reading that comes in at
100.4 degrees or higher, that shopper is pulled
aside and handed a flyer that asks them to
leave.
Vo said this has happened only twice in the two
weeks since he installed the cameras, which are
made by FLiR, a company that specializes in
thermal imaging cameras. There has been a
dramatic rise in demand for these kind of
cameras in recent weeks, even though experts say
they are an imprecise tool for identifying
people who are infected.
NBC News found more than ten security companies
in the U.S., Europe and China that are marketing
technologies as capable of picking out who in a
crowd is likely to have a fever, and thus a
possible coronavirus case. These companies are
actively pitching to police departments,
government agencies, schools, hospitals and
private businesses.
The idea is that thermal cameras can ferret out
sick people in a crowd by finding those who have
elevated temperatures, according to 11
surveillance companies NBC News found marketing
the technology as a form of coronavirus
detection. Fever is a symptom of COVID-19, the
disease caused by the coronavirus.
But the problems with this technology, according
to thermal imaging and virus surveillance
experts, is that thermal imaging is an imprecise
method for scanning crowds and doesn't measure
inner-body temperature.
They also noted that the coronavirus only
produces a fever after a person is infected for
days, if there are symptoms at all. A recent
study in Iceland looking
at tests from a sizable portion of the
population found that 50 percent of everyone who
tested positive were asymptomatic.
The rise in demand for thermal cameras also
comes as governments are looking for new ways to
track who is sick, including turning
to smartphone location data.
Forbes had a recent article
tracking the impact on the thermal
imaging industry. Wuhan Guide Infrared Co. is
bustling, with its 2,600 employees working round
the clock to fulfill a surge of orders for fever
detection systems to help contain the epidemic.
China’s largest maker of thermal imaging
equipment
sold thousands of fever screening systems
in just
two weeks as authorities and businesses
rush to deploy them at airports, railway
stations and other public gathering places,
sales manager Thomas Chen says via email.
Typically, the company typically only sells
about 100 a year.
Shares of Wuhan Guide Infrared surged 85.9%
recently, giving the company a market value of
$5.16 billion, making it the fourth-largest
technology company by market cap on the Shenzhen
stock exchange and inflating the fortune of
founder Huang Li to
$3.4 billion.
Smaller Chinese competitor Zhejiang Dali
Technology’s shares jumped 79% over the same
period to 19.00 yuan, while the benchmark
Shenzhen composite index is up 2.9%
Makers of thermal fever screening equipment in
other countries also say they’re being inundated
with inquiries from around the world from
airport operators, schools, hotels, malls and
theaters.
“The demand at this moment is unprecedented,”
says Leonard Lim, founder and CEO of
Singapore-based Omnisense. “If you try to call
our office now you probably won’t get through,
the lines are jammed.”
Infrared Cameras Inc., a small private company
in Beaumont, Texas, sells two fever detection
systems that have been approved by the FDA for
medical use that are priced at $5,000 and
$10,000. They require people to stand still
facing the camera, with a reference object in
the field of view called a “blackbody” that has
a known level of infrared emissions.
Founder Gary Strahan says he’s ramping up
staffing and production after receiving an order
for 230 systems from an individual customer two
weeks ago and quoting prices to thousands of
prospective buyers. They include a cruise ship
operator, a private girls high school in Hong
Kong and a manufacturer in China looking to add
an infrared camera to a robot so that humans
wouldn’t have to be exposed to someone suspected
of having an illness.
FLIR also makes FDA-approved cameras.
Distributors have been making large sales of
FLIR systems during the coronavirus outbreak
Omnisense has stopped production of its core
night vision cameras to crank out the latest
version of its mass fever screening system, the
Sentry Mark4, which CEO Lim says can detect skin
temperature differences as small as 0.2 degrees
Centigrade on the faces and necks of moving
people. It sells for $20,000 to $25,000, and
detection is automated, he says, allowing the
system to be deployed in large numbers quickly
during public health emergencies, with minimal
training of operators.
Tyson Foods Purchased More Than 150 Infrared
Walk-Through Temperature Scanners
Tyson Foods
has answered questions on their scanner
purchases. So far, the scanners have been
installed in four facilities; pork plants in
Iowa and Indiana and poultry plants in Arkansas
and Georgia. The company expects that eventually
every one of its food production facilities will
have at least one in place.
Tom Brower, Tyson Foods senior vice president of
health & safety, answers questions,
explaining why Tyson Foods installing the
scanners.
Q: Why are we using this technology?
A: We need to ensure a safe work environment for
our people. Exploring ways that are more
efficient in keeping our team members safe is
never a bad thing. This is a non-contact
temperature scanner, so it’s seamless for our
team members since all they need to do is walk
through the detector zone. It doesn’t disrupt
their routine, and it’s faster than using the
handheld thermometers.
Q: How do these walk-through scanners work?
A: All that team members have to do is walk
through the detector zone one at a time. The
non-contact thermal imaging system tracks them
as a screen provides a real-time display of the
maximum temperature reading of each person. If a
team member’s temperature exceeds a fever-grade
temperature, the system sets an alarm. One of
our trained professionals will take additional
steps and check that team members temperature
with a temporal thermometer to verify their
temperature. If a team member is sick, we’ll
send them home.
Q: Do infrared scanners detect COVID-19?
A: No. The makers of these devices have noted
that the scanners only detect a person’s body
temperature. We still choose to use them because
it’s a safer non-contact option to check
temperature.
Will we keep these walk-through temperature
scanners for the long-term?
A: Since we’ve invested in the equipment, we may
consider continuing to use them. This could help
in the future flu and cold seasons to identify
team members that are just starting to show
symptoms and have them go home.
https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/40053-tyson-explains-use-of-walk-through-temperature-scanners
JBS Closes Third Plant but Reopens One in
Pennsylvania
Beef and pork processor JBS
USA said Monday it will close a third facility
because of coronavirus as
the meat
industry deals
with virus clusters popping up at plants across
the country.
JBS announced the "indefinite closure" of its
Worthington, Minnesota, pork production plant
after 20 employees and five of their family
members tested positive for the virus, according
to CBS
4.
The plant employs 2,000 people, and workers will
be paid during the closure.
JBS has already closed its Greeley, Colorado,
and Souderton, Pennsylvania, beef facilities
because of the virus, although the Pennsylvania
plant reopened Monday.
"We don't make this decision lightly," Bob
Krebs, president of JBS USA Pork, said in a
statement. "We recognize JBS Worthington is
critical to local hog producers, the U.S. food
supply and the many businesses that support the
facility each and every day."
After decades of consolidation, there are about
800 federally inspected slaughterhouses in the
United States, processing billions of pounds of
meat for food stores each year. But a relatively
small number of them account for the vast
majority of production. In the cattle industry,
a little more than 50 plants are responsible for
as much as 98 percent of slaughtering and
processing in the United States.
Kraft Heinz and
Conagra Plants Closed Due to Infected Workers
Production has been curtailed at a Kraft Heinz
macaroni plant and at a Conagra frozen food
plant after workers tested positive for COVID
19.
The plants are to be reopened after cleaning.
The ConAgra plant in Marshall, Missouri, is
temporarily closing after a number of employees
were diagnosed with COVID-19.
A
company spokesperson said that 20 employees are
sick with coronavirus and that the closure is
necessary to maintain cleanliness at the
facility.
“The health and safety of our employees is our
top priority. In our facility in Marshall,
Missouri, we have been using social distancing
techniques, screening temperatures and increased
sanitization in common areas to prevent the
spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, approximately
20 employees have been diagnosed with COVID-19
so we have made the decision to suspend
operations at the facility until April 27,” said
company spokesman Dan Hare.
Employees will receive a paycheck during the
closure, and the company will continue to pay
workers who need to take time off due to
COVID-19 illnesses, the company said.
Kraft Heinz Cedar Rapids factory reported a
positive case of coronavirus on Friday, April
4th.
An employee at Kraft Heinz in Lowville has
tested positive for COVID-19.
Company officials say they were notified of the
positive result on Tuesday. They say the
employee is at home in isolation and hasn’t been
at the plant since April 9. Senior vice
president of corporate affairs Michael Mullen
said the facility was deep cleaned on April 10.
“We encourage any employee who feels unwell to
take every precaution and seek medical
assistance,” Mullen said. “We’ll continue to
monitor this rapidly evolving situation and will
update all employees as appropriate.”
Lewis County Public Health officials confirmed
the positive test late Wednesday morning.
An employee who works at the Kraft Heinz
Davenport factory has tested positive for
COVID-19, a Kraft Heinz spokesman confirmed
Friday.
The employee last worked at the factory April 9,
according to the spokesman. The individual is at
home and in self-quarantine. The factory has
around 800 employees.
FBIA Relying on Outdated CDC Face Mask
Recommendations
The Food and Beverage Industry Association has
an excellent website with links to
relevant coronavirus information.
Relative to face masks they say “ Given this CDC
recommendation, companies in the food supply
chain may need to implement standard operating
procedures for the use of face coverings or
masks. It’s important to note that supplies of
cloth face coverings may be in high demand and
food companies should evaluate whether they can
provide disposable face coverings or masks; and
in their absence consider reusable cloth masks
that can be appropriately collected after their
use and laundered” The new evidence shows
that food companies will want to provide
N95 efficiency masks to employees under a number
of circumstances
Interim Guidelines for Non-Health Care Settings
The CDC interim guidance may help prevent
workplace exposures to COVID-19, in
non-healthcare settings. (CDC has provided
separate guidance for healthcare
settings.)
This guidance also provides planning
considerations for community spread of COVID-19.
The non-healthcare guide addresses
disinfection techniques and also the potential
for increasing the flow of outside air.
