R number for UK below 1 for first time since August

Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by rtkwe on Friday November 27, 2020 @07:57PM (#25234114)

It's the number to eventually end the largest restrictions but keeping it low was always going to require either continued light lockdown or a large monitoring project to catch and quarantine random popup cases like China is doing. Just recently in the US I've only had two places doing temperature checks which is wild to me at this point, it was the local courthouse and a random artists collective store I was visiting.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by wutbrodo on Friday November 27, 2020 @08:52PM (#25234425)

> Just recently in the US I've only had two places doing temperature checks which is wild to me at this point

I've gotten a temperature check every time I've entered a commercial building for the last few months (in NYC), but temperature checks hew dangerously close to safety theater.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by rtkwe on Friday November 27, 2020 @09:25PM (#25234626)

It's a small thing that can catch some low symptom cases in the absence of randomized testing. It's not the most effective thing but I don't think it's theater.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by jrumbut on Friday November 27, 2020 @10:22PM (#25234966)

It also (perhaps primarily) catches high symptom cases where the person decided to go out anyway.

To add to the anecdata, in Massachusetts I've only had my temperature checked at a doctor's office but I've also visited very few places.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by rtkwe on Saturday November 28, 2020 @06:07PM (#25241351)

Yeah, though I'm not sure how much forced quarantine orders are being used in the US right now.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by mensetmanusman on Saturday November 28, 2020 @11:44AM (#25238590)

It’s 100% safety theater, like masks worn on the chin.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by twblalock on Friday November 27, 2020 @10:56PM (#25235137)

Temperature checks won't catch asymptomatic people, and a lot of covid cases are asymptomatic. I don't see how temperature checks ought to make anyone feel safer.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by beervirus on Friday November 27, 2020 @11:03PM (#25235159)

They’re better than nothing, but not by much.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by twblalock on Friday November 27, 2020 @11:05PM (#25235172)

They might be counterproductive, if they give people a false sense of security.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by DerDangDerDang on Friday November 27, 2020 @08:32PM (#25234323)

Wall-to-wall testing would be my preferred route. In fairness I think that would be gov.uk's preferred route too if they could organise it (they can't).

I got temperature check and covid symptom questionnaire on entry to (private) hospital, but it's not widespread.

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by Kiro on Saturday November 28, 2020 @03:34AM (#25236237)

Temperature checks are pretty much useless.

https://abc13.com/temperature-checks-covid-coronavirus-sympt...

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Re:R number for UK below 1 for first time since August by makomk on Saturday November 28, 2020 @07:47AM (#25237213)

Yeah, the false positive and false negative rates are utterly atrocious - there's so many things that can cause raised body temperatures, a lot of people with Covid don't actually have fevers, and the thermometers used often aren't that accurate anyway.

The problem is that the US media have quite consistently only reported on the fact that they're useless when talking about them being implemented in the US. When China and the WHO claimed they were the basis for China's success in containing the virus, pretty much everyone - including publications like the New York Times - uncritically regurgitated that claim. Same with places like (if I remember rightly) Taiwan using it for airport screening. Anyone who got their beliefs from the mainstream media would be left convinced that America was failing because it hadn't adopted these successful measures from places like China.

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