TYLER, Texas — Many businesses and schools are requiring everyone to have their temperatures checked before entering, but now experts are saying that might not be the best way to detect COVID-19.
Dr. Emmanuel Lonsdorfer works at Hospitality Health ER in Tyler. He says taking a person's temperature by using their forehead isn't always the most accurate.
"We don't use those temperature screening in the ER because we don't think they are as accurate as let's say an oral temperature, you know? So it depends," Dr. Lonsdorfer said.
An elevated temperature is considered to be 100.4 or higher. While fever is a symptom of COVID-19, it's also a symptom of many other viruses including the flu.
"If you do have a temperature, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have COVID," Dr. Lonsdorfer said. "Alright, COVID is a virus. So all viruses cause or can cause a, or could cause a temperature increase. Other factors also can increase the temperature. Medications, heat exhaustion, heat strokes, especially in the middle of the summer, you know, so I would probably say it's it's a screening tool, but it's not, the end all be all screening for COVID especially."
Another thing to keep in mind, if you've been outside for a while on a hot day, it's easy to get a wrong temperature reading.
"If it's hot and they're sweating, it's relatively easy when it's 100 degrees outside to be at 100 points or higher," Dr. Lonsdorfer said.
Dr. Lonsdorfer says while there is nothing wrong with checking a person's temperature as a precaution, he suggests that businesses add to that screening to make sure they're getting the full picture.
"If the person has a fever and they've been close to somebody who has COVID and the businesses can or would allow to ask the patient that question, then I probably would say there's a strong chance that the person has COVID," Dr. Lonsdorfer said.