Anthony Fauci, MD, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the White House and NIH have abandoned temperature checks to screen for coronavirus, according to ABC News.
"We have found at the NIH, that it is much much better to just question people when they come in and save the time, because the temperatures are notoriously inaccurate, many times," Dr. Fauci said at an event Thursday with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Dr. Fauci noted that temperature checks are especially unreliable on hot summer days. His own temperature read as high as 103 degrees recently before getting into air conditioning.
In workplaces, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has said temperature checks are most beneficial when employees take their temperature at home and act accordingly based on the result versus employers administering tests to employees upon arrival at the work site.
In schools, the CDC has recommended daily temperature screenings of staff and students if possible, but does not specify whether those tests should be conducted on site or before arriving at the location.