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Burlington has bought 100 thermometers as part of its fight against the coronavirus, using them to check the temperatures of city employees and donating some to local organizations that work with seniors.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said during his Tuesday press update that the city had purchased forehead thermometers using emergency funds granted by the Burlington City Council at its last meeting. The thermometers cost $13,900 — $139 per thermometer.
Weinberger said that checking the temperatures of employees could help identify individuals with possible cases of COVID-19 and prevent the spread of the disease. He said that the city received the thermometers Monday and was using them to ensure city employees were not coming to work with a fever.
The thermometers are being used at the police department, five fire stations, water and sewer plants, and Burlington Electric Department, Weinebrger said.
“The goal is, as much as possible, that anyone, city employees or anyone else … who does have to enter, that their temperature be taken as a security measure, as an early warning signal,” he said.
The city also offered thermometers to local organizations that work with seniors. Birchwood Terrace, Burlington Health & Rehab, Burlington Housing Authority, Elderwood at Burlington, the Howard Center and Living Well Group all have accepted the city’s offer. Burlington Health & Rehab is the site of a major outbreak of the virus.
“We hope these thermometers help these organizations keep their facilities secure, keep the virus out of their facilities,” Weinberger said.
Weinberger said the city likely cannot provide thermometers to every organization that could benefit from them, but those that are interested can contact the city’s Resource and Recovery Center at recovery@burlingtonvt.gov.
Weinberger said the thermometers could be helpful when the city starts to reopen after Gov. Phil Scott lifts or partially lifts his “stay home” order once the spread of the disease slows.
“These thermometers, at that point, I think could become even more important as part of a strategy to reopen the community while watching very carefully and trying to look for any additional infections or spikes to the virus,” he said.
The city is also deploying four detectives from the Burlington Police Department to the Department of Health’s contact tracing team to help track the spread of the virus.
Weinberger said the officers had undergone training with the health department and would be starting their work tracking the disease in coming days.
