Airport security officials are looking at taking the temperatures of passengers as they pass through security checkpoints, as well as putting travelers through thermal imaging machines.
“We’re looking at temperature checks, thermal imaging, and other technologies to see what we can do to provide some layer of security,” acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf told reporters during a trip to Texas Thursday afternoon.
Airlines for America, an organization that represents major U.S. airliners, backs a plan for federal workers to implement temperature checks to flag people who have a fever and might have the coronavirus. Passengers with a temperature would not be allowed to board the flight.
Wolf warned that the new measures cannot eliminate the risk involved with traveling in close proximity to others.
“How do we buy that risk down? And I think that’s what we’re looking at, how do we buy that down so that we make sure that folks perhaps with elevated temperatures, perhaps are at the beginning of feeling sick, we can identify those individuals and not have them fly,” Wolf said, according to a report. “But it is certainly not going to be a panacea. It’s not going to be the end-all solution where everyone can come into an airport environment and take masks off and act like they’re safe as they can be.”
The Transportation Security Administration announced Thursday that it will amend its screening process to limit the cross-contamination of bins, luggage, and conveyor belts as travelers get checked before boarding flights. The changes will begin in mid-June and come as the number of fliers has nearly tripled after dropping to 90,000 daily screenings in mid-April. Nearly 600 of the TSA’s 50,000-person workforce have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The TSA is also soliciting plans from the private sector for new measures to have travelers pass through security checkpoints in a self-checkout style similar to grocery stores.
