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The COVID-19 outbreak has taken its toll on many organisations and our normal lives for much of 2020. With the peak of the pandemic seeming to be thankfully behind us, shops, offices, restaurants, gyms, schools and public entertainment venues are slowly reopening. However, with many countries now facing a possible second wave of infections, how do we return to some kind of normality without putting public health at risk? In this article, we look at the 3 key steps to take to safely resume operations amid the COVID-19 outbreak and how to effectively achieve them.

1) Body temperature check

Almost everywhere we go now it is essential to have our body temperature checked to prevent potential COVID-19 carriers from infecting others in a venue. Though rather intrusive and manpower intensive, temperature checks must now become the norm if people want to return to offices, shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals, post offices, etc. safely.

2) Raise hygiene standards

All public places, such as shopping malls, public transportation hubs, schools, and commercial and residential buildings, must raise their hygiene standards to prevent outbreaks of the virus. Everything from door handles to elevator buttons and escalator handrails must now be disinfected more thoroughly and often than ever before.  Even trash receptacles need to be emptied more regularly. Though this places an increased demand on cleaning and waste management services, it is essential to prevent the spread of the virus which can live on some surfaces for days.

3) Minimise human contact

Coronavirus is particular problematic as there appears to be asymptomatic or ‘silent spreaders’ – people who are carrying the virus but show no symptoms.  As such, we must continue to maintain social distance as best we can and wear masks in public areas. Frontline staff in particular need sufficient and effective Personal Protective Equipment or PPE, however there have been shortages and nothing is 100% failsafe.

Balancing cost with safety

Achieving these 3 key steps can seem like a daunting and costly task, not to mention the additional risk posed to frontline cleaning staff and those performing temperature checks. Additional manpower, more intense cleaning and waste collection schedules will put cost pressure on many organisations. But with no end to the pandemic in sight, it is something we have to get used to. Thankfully, by utilising advances in automation we can effectively balance cost with safety.

Guardforce Hong Kong, for instance, has developed a range of smart anti-epidemic solutions which help to implement control measures while saving on manpower costs, reducing risk to frontline staff and creating efficient cleaning and waste collection schedules.

Here are some great examples of innovative smart anti-epidemic solutions in use today:

Smart ConcieGuard

Guardforce’s Smart ConcieGuard is an advanced multi-function robot which acts as a visitor management system, concierge, customer service, access control and surveillance solution. Particularly useful amid COVID-19, is its temperature detector function utilising thermal imaging CCTV and facial recognition technology.

It is ideal to man high-traffic entrances of commercial and residential buildings, schools, hospitals and other premises, where it will record body temperatures of large numbers of people (up to 8 at a time, across a wide space and long distance) and prevent the spread of the virus without the need for contact or human involvement, saving costs and increasing safety.

To learn more about Smart ConcieGuard, click here.

FeverCheck Access Control

In order to safely resume operations amid COVID-19, this contactless access control system is an essential addition to any premises with card reader access. Using facial recognition access control, FeverCheck acts not only as a secure automated gatekeeper for authorised personnel, it also performs temperature checks and denies access to anyone with a fever whether they are wearing a mask or not, even if they are authorised to enter.

See it in action here:

Smart Bin

Raising hygiene standards also increases pressure on waste management services. To help with this issue, Guardforce has developed a new Smart Bin solution. By integrating smart IoT sensors to detect fill levels, real-time data can be relayed to waste management services to optimise collection routes. Also, with its solar-powered trash compactor, each bin can hold more waste before it needs to be emptied. All this means fewer overflowing bins, better hygiene and more effective use of manpower, especially in areas with heavy human traffic.

Take a look at the Smart Bin here:

Smart VirusGuard

More intensive cleaning requirements amid the pandemic doesn’t necessarily mean more manpower. Disinfection robots, such as Guardforce’s Smart VirusGuard, spray and disinfect premises 24/7 with aerosolised disinfectants proven safe for humans. Operating using auto-pilot technology, the robot moves through corridors, rooms and even lifts to ensure floors and surfaces are virus-free without the need for additional cleaning staff or putting humans at increased risk.

Watch the do its work here:

Learn more about Guardforce Hong Kong’s innovative anti-epidemic solutions

To learn more about how Guardforce’s smart anti-epidemic solutions can help you balance cost with safety and resume normal operations amid the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

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