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Do COVID-19 symptom checks really work?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Local businesses are now requiring employees to get their temperature checked before they can clock in.

But with so many asymptomatic COVID-19 cases, Channel 9 wanted to know if the checks really work.

The Human Services Center in Gaston County is making employees answer health questions before they are allowed in the county building. After the questions, they are moved over to a machine that checks their temperature.

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If the temperature is normal they get a green sticker which clears them to enter any county building that day. If not, they are sent home.

The stickers confirms the person has no symptoms, but it doesn’t say whether the person is COVID-19 positive or not.

Last week, we learned that there were 570 cases at a Tyson Chicken plant in Wilkesboro. They were conducting similar screenings, but most of the infected were asymptomatic.

Assistant Director of Emergency Medicine for Piedmont Medical Center Dr. Melissa Kerg said she has seen this before.

She said despite the flaws there isn’t a better way of screening right now and detecting a low grade fever can make a major difference.

“Obviously there are people who slip through the cracks but this is the best we have,” Kerg said.

The Americans Civil Liberties Union said it has concerns about the tools businesses are using to screen workers.

The first being effectiveness. The organization said experts don’t agree that temperature checks are effective at detecting the virus.

The second is privacy. The ACLU said body temperature isn’t something you want the government to track. Officials worry it could lead to the tracking of other medical information.

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