EB Adds Thermal Imaging Cameras At Shipyard To Detect Fevers

GROTON, CT — With nearly 5,000 COVID-19 tests done at its shipyard, Electric Boat announced that in total since the pandemic began, 46 employees tested positive and of those, 40 have returned to work. Company president Kevin Graney, who himself tested positive for the coronavirus, said that since the shipbuilder began its own testing program, more than three quarters of its shipyard workers in Groton have been tested, he said two employees tested positive for the COVID-19 antigen, meaning they had active coronavirus. And that 57 employees had antibodies for COVID-19, which means they had the disease at one point and have since recovered.

Beginning June 1, Graney said, EB will have thermal imaging cameras set up at Groton’s main gate and south gate. The cameras take an infrared image of a person’s face and use the tear ducts to determine if someone has a higher-than-normal temperature.

"Fever, as most of you know, is a symptom of COVID-19. We tested this technology back on April 28th and found that the process takes just a few seconds.While it’s true that someone can carry active virus and be a-symptomatic, or be in the early stages of the virus where they do not yet have a high temperature, we’re optimistic this tool can help," he said.

Read Graney's full message here:

"We’ve had no additional positive cases of COVID-19 over the last week which includes since my last podcast on Thursday, May 21st. As a reminder, our total number of positive cases since the pandemic began is 46, with 40 employees returned to work.

Last week we wrapped up COVID-19 testing at the Groton site. We conducted our pilot on May 5th, and carried out full-rate testing from May 11th through May 15th with makeup days on May 20th and 21st. We performed 4,800 total tests, which translates to approximately 78% of all Groton employees, so I appreciate everybody participating in the testing who came out for it. Through this testing, we found two employees who tested positive for the COVID-19 antigen, meaning they had active coronavirus. We also confirmed that 57 employees had antibodies for COVID-19, which means they had the disease at one point and have since recovered.

We conducted testing for our employees at the Subase yesterday and will start testing at Quonset Point tomorrow, May 28th through Tuesday, June 2nd. We are currently building the schedule for testing employees based in New London, Kings Highway, Eagle Park and other locations, so stay tuned. Employees at those locations will be notified by their supervisors when we get the schedule finalized.

The protocols we put in place to minimize the risks of COVID-19 have yielded good results. We’ve had very low numbers of COVID-19 cases over the last several weeks and no large-scale person-to-person spread. Like many of you, I watch the news regularly, and I see how the rest of the nation is starting to emerge from a fairly stringent lock down. I have mixed emotions. I believe we have sacrificed a lot of our personal liberty to try and curb the spread of this disease. I think our efforts have paid off and that it’s time for a measured relaxation from lock down. At the same time, I realize COVID still exists and represents a risk to each of us and to Electric Boat as our communities open up and more people return to work. This is not the time to let down our guard.

Each of us, here at EB and outside the gate in our private lives, must continue to do our part by maintaining our discipline to our personal protocols like mask wearing, washing our hands and maintaining a safe distance. At EB, I am committed to keeping our facility clean, maintaining our ability to work from home, testing, and enabling social distancing in our daily meetings and interactions. It will become harder to stay disciplined as the weather warms up. Now, more than ever, we must remain vigilant to protect each other and our families. So I ask you this: Please consider maintaining your personal commitment to the good results we’ve already achieved by continuing to work together.

Starting next week, we’re going to pilot an additional tool to help keep you and your co-workers safe. Beginning Monday, June 1st, we will have thermal imaging cameras set up at Groton’s main gate and south gate. The cameras, made by the FLIR company (that stands for forward looking infrared), take an infrared image of a person’s face and use the tear ducts to determine if someone has a higher-than-normal temperature. Fever, as most of you know, is a symptom of COVID-19. We tested this technology back on April 28th and found that the process takes just a few seconds.

While it’s true that someone can carry active virus and be a-symptomatic, or be in the early stages of the virus where they do not yet have a high temperature, we’re optimistic this tool can help prove useful in combination with our discipline to the basics:
• Maintain a safe distance of 6-feet or more from your colleagues
• Wear a face covering while you’re at work
• Wash your hands with soap and water and use hand sanitizer
• And most importantly—I can’t emphasize this enough—if you don’t feel well, stay home."