As B.C. businesses adapt to life during the pandemic, some are taking initiative and bringing in measures to help protect themselves and their customers. One Vancouver liquor store's thermal cameras make a trip to the shop feel like you're shopping in the future. They're politely kicking out customers who the camera reads as having a fever-like temperature and the future looks bright. Value On Liquor Store just got a new gadget on Friday, May 1, and they say it's helping keep their staff and customers safe. The cameras use infrared lasers to detect the customer's temperatures as they enter the store, and have been approved by Health Canada especially for use in detecting COVID-19, they told Narcity in a statement. Specifically, the cameras are able to sense the temperature of someone's forehead and displays the reading on a big screen facing the store. If it reads a temperature of around 37.5 degrees — roughly the temperature of a fever — it will give a warning. Any higher than 38 degrees and it'll sound an alarm. "In the interest of the health and safety of our customers and employees, any individual with a body temperature in excess of 38 Celsius will be asked to leave the premises and advised to see a doctor," wrote the liquor store to Narcity. Value On Liquor Store l Handout "Measuring temperatures is just the latest addition to the precautions we have been taking," they wrote, adding that they're also following the provincial guidelines around distancing and sanitation. "This provides the safest, most efficient and consistent way of measuring body temperatures from a distance (so no issues with social distancing)," they continued. They also confirmed that they're not collecting or storing any customer data from the cameras. Let's all work together to stay safe during these unprecedented time. #AllInThisTogether pic.twitter.com/Ob0G0Zn66J— Value on Liquor (@valueonliquor) April 12, 2020 Other places in the city like grocery stores are checking the temperatures of their customers too, but they use handheld thermometers. This heat-seeking camera method is way safer because they don't have to get up close to others and unlike a handheld thermometer, they can maintain that two metres apart distance. Testing is recommended for anyone with cold, influenza or COVID-19-like symptoms, even mild ones. Learn about the symptoms and where to go to be assessed for testing: https://t.co/NgOJV4LwVT pic.twitter.com/ba4NLCIpWk— BCCDC (@CDCofBC) April 27, 2020 It's not just grocery and liquor stores that checking temperatures these days; earlier, Air Canada announced they'll be scanning all their passengers' temperatures as well. So far, the response to the new cameras has been "overwhelmingly positive" from both customers and staff. Not only do people who frequent the shop feel safer, but they also get to test out the cool tech too. And that's almost worth it on its own.
