SCC looks to ease lockdown with thermal imaging tech

SCC is remaining active during the coronavirus pandemic by responding directly to the challenges posed by the crisis.

Web developers and experts at the reseller have already donated their time to help support the roll-out of a personal protective equipment (PPE) training site to support care workers nationally, and the business has also turned its attention to helping the country get back to work as the lockdown eases.

The government is under increasing pressure to ease lockdown restrictions and give some indication of how people can start to get back to normal. But with no vaccine yet available for the coronavirus, the prospect of a second surge in cases and more deaths is keeping the current stay-at-home policy in place.

Along with providing face masks and encouraging hand-washing, the other weapon that could help in the fight against the virus is being able to detect people who pose a risk to others, and one of the main indicators that someone is developing symptoms is a high temperature.

SCC is responding directly to that part of the equation by helping to deliver thermal fever detection technology that gives an opportunity to identify whether someone entering a shop or office has an elevated temperature.

The technology can quickly scan an individual and produce a temperature reading, which appears on a monitor.

SCC has deployed a mobile thermal temperature detection system at Bournemouth Airport, mounted on a tripod in the staff entrance. Security staff can monitor the machine and prevent colleagues with high temperatures from going further and mixing with people in the building.

The channel player also plans to add a multi-camera system, positioned at each entry point across the airport’s terminal building, in departures and arrivals, which could be used by border staff to monitor passengers that are showing any signs of high temperature.

SCC is promoting the benefits of the technology to a wide audience and there is potential across numerous verticals, from healthcare in hospitals and care homes, to enterprise customers trying to protect staff who are returning to an office working environment.

Amazon is another example of a firm that has already adopted thermal imaging technology to help keep workers in its UK warehouses protected and able to keep working through the pandemic.

“When the UK is ready to ease strict lockdown measures, we will see permanent changes to the way we live and work, and all businesses will need to implement new protective measures to prevent the further spread of Covid-19 and other contagious diseases by reducing the opportunity for transmission,” said James Rigby, SCC chief executive.

“Critically, all businesses must be in a position to demonstrate that safe social distancing measures are in place before the country is able to mobilise again, and SCC’s thermal fever detection solution could be an important component of solutions enabling this, helping companies to regain consumer confidence and begin to recover from the most unprecedented economic event of modern times.”