The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is warning the public and healthcare professionals to take care when buying infrared (contactless) thermometers, following an increase in the number of unreliable products available in the UK. 

Graeme Tunbridge, director of the MHRA devices division, said: “People in the UK are unknowingly buying poor quality infrared thermometers which do not meet the required standards of safety and performance.”

Infrared thermometers, like all medical devices fit for sale in the UK, should carry a distinct CE or UKCA mark, either on the device or on its packaging. Suppliers who fail to ensure that this is the case may be subject to prosecution.

The MHRA is advising both public and professional users to follow the guidance on its website. It adds that people should be made aware that temperature screening is not a reliable method for detecting Covid-19 infection.