The effectiveness of non‐contact thermal screening as a means of identifying cases of Covid‐19: a rapid review of the evidence

Abstract

The aim of this rapid review is to summarise the evidence on non-contact thermal screening as a method through which to identify cases and reduce the spread of coronavirus disease . The rapid review was conducted in accordance with Cochrane guidelines, with a systematic search of published peer-reviewed articles and non-peer-reviewed pre-prints undertaken from 1 January 2000 up to 7October 2020. Eleven studies were included. One observational study and two mathematical modelling studies were conducted in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic; the remaining studies were conducted during the influenza A pandemic (H1N1) 2009 (n ¼ 7) or middle east respiratory syndrome (n ¼ 1) pandemics. One systematic review and three rapid reviews were identified and screened for relevant studies. Evidence on the effectiveness of thermal screening contained within this review was limited to points of entry (i.e., airports); thus the applicability to other community settings is uncertain. Thermal screening, implemented as part of a composite of screening measures (self-report of relevant symptoms, contact/travel history), was ineffective in identifying infectious individuals and limiting the spread of disease. Based on limited, low certainty evidence, non-contact thermal screening is ineffective in limiting the spread of Covid-19. K E Y W O R D S coronavirus, Covid-19, mass screening, SARS-CoV-2, thermal screening 1 | INTRODUCTION On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak a global pandemic.

The effects of public health and social measures (PHSM) implemented during the COVID‐19 pandemic: An overview of systematic reviews

“…Thermal screening may be ineffective in restraining the spread of COVID‐19 due to the presence of asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases (two low‐confidence reviews) [34, 35].…”

“…• There is uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of rapid antigen testing for screening asymptomatic individuals to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19 (one moderate confidence review) [33]. • Thermal screening may be ineffective in restraining the spread of COVID-19 due to the presence of asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases (two lowconfidence reviews) [34,35]. Testing in health care settings • Routine testing of residents and staff in long-term care facilities independent of symptoms may reduce the number of infections.…”

A survey of COVID-19 in public transportation: Transmission risk, mitigation and prevention

“…Finally, thermal screening can only identify individuals that are already symptomatic. Thus, currently there is very little support for thermal screening to be an effective method for limiting the spread of COVID-19 ( Cardwell et al., 2021 ).…”

Peran Digital Health untuk Manajemen Penanganan Pandemi COVID-19 di Indonesia: Systematic Literature Review

“…Selain skrining terkait kondisi fisik, juga dilakukan skrining termal berupa pemeriksaan suhu tubuh. Skrining termal tidak efektif dalam mengidentifikasi individu yang menular dan membatasi penyebaran Covid-19 (30,31). Untuk itu direkomendasikan penggunaan radar gelombang mikro untuk menangkap detak jantung dan laju pernapasan untuk meningkatkan akurasi skrining (32).…”