A total 22 infrared body temperature scanners, a newly invented gadget used to screen potential cases of severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARS), were sent to Hong Kong on Wednesday night.

The shipment was the first batch requested by the authorities from Hong Kong's Luohu Checkpoint who, after observing the scanner on Wednesday morning at the Luohu Checkpoint of Guangdong, in south China, immediately ordered 50 from the Tsinghua Research Institute of Shenzhen, the inventor of the medical appliance.

Compared with traditional thermometers, the scanner can take temperatures in less than one second and requires no physical contact. It can thus effectively help to prevent the transmission of SARS.

Clinical tests reveal that the scanner's rate of precision is as high as 90 percent. Used in ports, checkpoints and airports, the gadget can identify people whose temperatures exceed 38 degrees Celsius, a warning sign for suspected SARS cases.

At the Luohu Checkpoint of Guangdong, several passengers have been intercepted due to relatively high temperatures. Subsequent evaluations, however, attributed their slight fevers to rushing around the airport.

(24-04-2003)