City of St. Augustine rolls out new smart thermometers to detect spikes in COVID-19

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The City of St. Augustine is looking for volunteers to pick up a Kinsa Inc. Smart Thermometer.

It will help them track the spread of coronavirus or flu-like illnesses throughout the city.

John Regan the city manager told Action News Jax they are looking for people who fit a certain criteria.

"Those are households with large families with children or just large families with general caring elderly people and also in households of people who have to be moving around the community as part of their employment," Regan said.

The Kinsa thermometers will help public health leaders get an idea of where the hot spots are for infection.

But not everyone can pick one up, there is a process for qualifying for the program.

You will need to call and be prescreened first with a few questions to see if you meet the criteria.

Starting Wednesday, people who qualify for the program will be given the chance to get their smart thermometer hand delivered to their home or they can pick up their device at the drive through window on 50 Bridge Street in downtown St. Augustine.

Those thermometers are linked to smart phones.

They connect to the internet and collect data anonymously.

Regan said a user’s privacy information is protected.

“The thermometer comes with a description of the privacy standards, but the thermometer doesn’t transmit upward your personal information, only your temperature monitoring,” Regan said.

The city has already purchased 600 of these thermometers to distribute.

Regan said you don’t need a Kinsa thermometer in order to participate in the program. If you have a regular thermometer you can download the Kinsa app and put in your information.

For now the smart thermometers will only go to those who live in the city of St. Augustine and those who are city utilities customers, but there are plans to expand the project to those outside the city limits thanks to private donations.

The screening process begins Tuesday.

For more information on screening, can call 904 -825-1006 and select option 1.

For more information on the program, visit: Citystaug.com

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