Airports can have non-contact screening

Technology will help lift travel, tourism industry in long run

LAHORE: A Dubai-based networking and security value-added distributor, Ethos Technologies, has partnered with Wusool, a local digital solutions and payments company, to launch fast non-contact body temperature screening solutions in Pakistan.

The screening solutions can be used by Pakistani authorities at all airports and entry and exit points at borders to detect virus-hit individuals to fast-track the immigration process and diagnose Covid-19 disease.

According to officials, thermal solutions such as thermal cameras and images have been used for surveillance for a long time and this new technology has additional temperature-based screening and access control applications.

"These solutions have proved to be helpful during past outbreaks like SARS, bird flu, swine flu and Ebola," said Ethos Technologies General Manager for West Asia Imtiaz Ghani.

He added that although thermal solutions had been around for some time, they gained fame in the wake of Covid-19 when countries imposed restrictions on travellers from affected regions.

According to the company, this technology will not only help Pakistan combat Covid-19 but will also help uplift the currently stagnant travel and tourism industry in the longer run. According to data from the World Economic Forum, the size of Pakistan's travel and tourism sector stands at $351 million. Officials said the strategic preparedness and response plan to fight the Covid-19 had left most of the public policy decision-makers in a fix between availability of resources versus technological solutions available to them.

"This challenge becomes more significant for countries like Pakistan where the population and influx points are greater in number," they said.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th, 2020.

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