Technology
Amazon scans warehouse workers for fevers using thermal cameras
Amazon is changing how it identifies sick warehouse workers.
The Jeff Bezos-owned e-commerce giant installed thermal cameras in a handful of its shipping facilities, Reuters reported. Half a dozen warehouses around Los Angeles and Seattle have been equipped with the technology, intended to streamline the process of figuring out who has a fever. Amazon previously used forehead thermometers, but this should be faster.
If a camera determines a worker is running hot, they’re sent to a forehead thermometer testing station to get a more specific temperature taken. They cameras also be deployed at employee entrances to Whole Foods stores. Other grocery stores in the U.S. have tried this over the past month with their customers, but disease experts have warned that it’s an imperfect solution.
The biggest problem is arguably that a fever doesn’t tell the whole story with COVID-19. It’s one of the most recognizable symptoms of the illness, to be sure, but it doesn’t start showing until at least a couple of days after someone has already been infected with the virus. Also of concern is the fact that a large portion of those with the coronavirus show no symptoms at all.
In other words, by the time someone walks into a warehouse with a fever, it might be too late.
Amazon has faced harsh criticism from its own workers during the pandemic. Several Amazon warehouses have at least one confirmed COVID-19 case, but Amazon has been hesitant to close these facilities. Workers at one such warehouse in New York went on strike in March. The same went for Whole Foods workers.
More safety measures are always good, but the fact that even fever-detecting cameras may not be enough demonstrates the need for widely available testing, at the very least.
-
Business6 days ago
TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK
-
Business5 days ago
UnitedHealth says Change hackers stole health data on ‘substantial proportion of people in America’
-
Business5 days ago
Mood.camera is an iOS app that feels like using a retro analog camera
-
Business4 days ago
Tesla’s new growth plan is centered around mysterious cheaper models
-
Business3 days ago
Xaira, an AI drug discovery startup, launches with a massive $1B, says it’s ‘ready’ to start developing drugs
-
Business4 days ago
Two widow founders launch DayNew, a social platform for people dealing with grief and trauma
-
Entertainment4 days ago
Tesla’s in trouble. Is Elon Musk the problem?
-
Entertainment6 days ago
Furious Watcher fans are blasting it as ‘greedy’ over paid subscription service