FLINT, Mich. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — As summer is soon upon us, people will start heading to airports. As restrictions ease, what are airports doing to protect travelers? Ivanhoe has details on what could be coming to an airport near you to keep you safe from COVID-19. Smart helmet
These travelers arriving from Florida at Flint Bishop Airport in Michigan, are warmly greeted by an officer.
But what they don’t realize is that hiding behind the visor on her helmet is a tiny camera scanning their temperatures. It red flags anyone registering 100.4 or higher.
The smart helmet is a new tool to help detect COVID-19.
“The brain of it is right up here in the top. It has a camera on the front of it right here, and it also has an infrared camera on the picatinny rail on the side of it here that’s thermal imaging,” explained Wayne McIntyre, Chief of the Flint Bishop Airport Police.
The helmet can scan up to 30 people at a time, from 21 feet away. It was developed by a company in Italy, and first used in Rome.
“When we started at first with the pandemic, we did take temperatures just remotely with just an officer here at the door, but we were missing the people coming off the plane and that was a big gap,” stated Nino Sapone, Airport Director at the Flint Bishop Airport.
The display on the inside looks like a 72-inch screen in front of the user’s right eye. It’s giving the flying community added peace of mind.
“Just as your safety features are on your plane, anything else you can do, the more you know, the better you make your choice,” shared traveler Larry Black.
Only one person at the Flint Bishop Airport in Michigan has been detected to have a high temperature. A secondary screening showed she did not. She was just overheated wearing a heavy coat and mask, while lugging a large suitcase.
Contributors to this news report include: Hillary Rubin, Producer; Roque Correa, Editor; and, Thaad Sabolboro, Videographer.
SMART HELMET DETECTS COVID REPORT #2854
BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19, is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. People infected with the virus can experience mild to moderate respiratory illness. It is likely to recover without requiring special treatment. However, older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness. The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is to be well informed about the disease and what it causes and how it spreads. It is recommended to protect yourself and others from infection to wash your hands frequently or use an alcohol-based rub and try not to touch your face. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. So, it’s important for everyone to practice respiratory etiquette.
(Source: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1)
TECHNOLOGY AND COVID: As a result of COVID, technology has responded to help us adapt to the new ways of life and business. A recent global survey revealed that close to 80 percent of organizations have implemented or expanded universal work-from-home policies because of COVID-19, while 67 percent expect these policies to remain in place either permanently or long-term. Since quarantine, telehealth numbers have risen. Many doctors have resorted to simpler tools such as messaging and video conferencing platforms to provide their services to patients. The shortage in medical equipment has urged scientists, innovators, and even ordinary citizens to devise new ways to help. Home gardening has become more popular around the world during coronavirus lockdowns, driven by people’s desire to grow food in the backyard as well as seeing the activity as a therapeutic one. The World Health Organization noted that there’s a five-fold increase in cyberattacks and urges people and organizations to be aware. Developments in incorporating artificial intelligence into cybersecurity solutions are progressing, to effectively detect and stop cyberattacks.
WHAT’S NEW IN COVID TREATMENT: The Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program (CTAP) is a special emergency program the FDA has created for possible coronavirus therapies. The program uses every available method to move new treatments to patients as quickly as possible, while at the same time finding out whether they are helpful or harmful. They support clinical trials that are testing new treatments for COVID so they can gain valuable knowledge about their safety and effectiveness. Some treatments being studied are antiviral drugs, which keep viruses from multiplying and are used to treat many viral infections; immunomodulators are aimed at tamping down the body’s own immune reaction to the virus; neutralizing antibody therapies may help individuals fight the virus and include manufactured antibodies, animal-sourced antibody therapies, and blood-derived products; cell therapy products include cellular immunotherapies and other types of both autologous and allogeneic cells; and gene therapy products which seek to modify or manipulate the expression of a gene or alter the biological properties of living cells for therapeutic use.
(Source: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/coronavirus-covid-19-drugs/coronavirus-treatment-acceleration-program-ctap)
* For More Information, Contact:
Nino Sapone
Free weekly e-mail on Medical Breakthroughs from Ivanhoe. To sign up: http://www.ivanhoe.com/ftk
