AUSTIN, Texas — If you're running errands and need to go inside a business, an employee is likely to take your temperature before allowing you inside. Some businesses will do this to make sure you do not have a fever.
But how will temperatures hitting the triple digits come into play with your body temperature?
"That’s not going to be super helpful for people that have been outside for a while there,” said Dr. Ryan McCorkle, an emergency medicine physician at St. David's Medical Center. “The ambient temperature is going to have raised their temperature, especially when you’re using one of those temporal thermometers that are not nearly as good as an oral thermometer.”
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McCorkle said he realizes that it would be difficult for businesses to use an oral thermometer for checking customers, however, he did say that will give people a more accurate reading. He said the temporal thermometers can give false negatives, meaning you may have a fever, but the thermometer wouldn’t pick up on it.
"It’s better than nothing. Some businesses are making an effort to try to rule out people that come in with [a fever],” said McCorkle, explaining that regardless of if your temperature is from heat or from COVID-19, it’s better off for you to go home instead of running errands.
He said if your temperature is too high, you need to get out of the heat, cool down and get some fluids. McCorkle also suggested people look for other symptoms that could clue them in on whether the fever is due to heat or COVID-19.
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