Covid-19 pandemic is expected to last in South Africa for at least another year, and one electrical engineer has invented a machine to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Jeff Setshedi, who is from Hammanskraal outside Pretoria, has created a machine that not on sanitises, but also reads temperatures.
He told Vutivi News that embarked on this journey after having a conversation with a security guard.
“Every time I go shopping or to the mall with my son, I always find that the security guards in charge of screening and sanitising people are having a hard time,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t use proper sanitisers. My son once developed a rash from one of these sanitisers. I conversed with the security guard from the shop and he told me that he fears for his life. He said that some customers incorrectly wear their masks, and that exposes them to Covid-19.”
Setshedi decided that it was time to design a machine to help contain the spread of the virus.
“You put your hands in the machine and the machine sanitises you and reads your temperature,” he said.
“If your temperature is fine, the machine will flash a green light, but if your temperature is higher than the recommended degree, the machine will flash a red light. The machine also has a built-in system that allows the owner or manager of a public place or store to receive information about how many people had higher temperatures than normal. That way, this can contribute valuable statistics that could boost our fight against Covid-19,” he explained.
Setshedi completed building the machine in August last year with his own money. But he is yet to distribute it.
However, he said he has done a test run in Makapanstad in Hammanskraal.
“The people that used it were highly impressed,” he said.
More than 50 people tested the machine and found it easy to use, Setshedi said. He hopes that his invention will be rolled out across the country, so that less personnel are placed at risk of being infected with Covid-19.
“Many of the security guards that do this tireless job cannot afford to have an outside shower where they can clean themselves and change before entering the house. It increases the risk of his family being infected.”
