ACCELERATING DIGITALIZATION
Number One Recommendation: Digital Health Security Number one on the list of short-term recommendations reflects the impact of the pandemic on global healthcare systems, underlining the need to improve digital health security at critical infrastructure such as ports, to protect workers. This involves measures such as the enforcement of social distancing rules and temperature control of port workers through the use of thermal cameras, drones and electronic wearables, which could be integrated into a digital port security command and control centre. However, the digital technology covers a far wider radius in terms of health and safety. The report describes a pilot project in the Port of Antwerp, which has partnered with a Belgian start-up specialising in IoT solutions for maritime services and port terminals. The company developed a wearable device equipped with several security and safety applications particular to ports.
A series of tests at the port focused on man-to-machine detection, man-down detection, safe work in closed spaces and a lone worker alarm, which includes a panic button and man-down detection. In February 2020, a new function was added to monitor and maintain physical distancing and to facilitate contact tracing through device-to-device communication. The device generates a vibration and orange indicator light when the distance between two or more devices is closer than two metres. A second signal – loud alarm, vibration and red flashing indicator – is generated when it detects less than 1.5m between devices. THERMAL CAMERAS Thermal cameras have also helped with epidemic prevention and control in many settings, says the report. For example, they were introduced at many points of entry during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014-2016.
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In the maritime sector, Port Coronel in Chile was one of the first ports to introduce thermal camera technology in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, putting the devices in the main access areas and in the logistics centre of cargo terminals, to measure with a high degree of precision the body temperature of workers entering the terminal. Cameras are also used to monitor the temperature of the passengers at ferry and cruise terminals, with Portsmouth International Port being the first facility in the UK to install such a scanner to help ensure passenger safety. However, the report warns that thermal cameras should not be considered a panacea; they can detect a high body temperature, but not any other infection symptoms. A high temperature does not necessarily mean a person has COVID-19 – more testing would be needed – and, in addition, many people infected with COVID-19 are contagious while remaining asymptomatic.
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