Thermo guns are as ubiquitous as they are irreplaceable these days, as they take out the need for physical contact in temperature screenings. But now thermo guns are a hotly discussed topic in Indonesia after one ridiculous claim in Indonesia suggesting that pointing a thermo gun at someone’s head can damage their brain made the rounds online.
The claim can be traced back to an Instagram story post in which the poster said she refused to have a thermo gun pointed at her head on human rights grounds.
“If [the laser] gets to the brain, is there an effect over time? Why not [point the thermo gun] at the arm? I have the right to refuse. It’s my body,” part of the post read.
The poster added that when she exercised her right to refuse having a thermo gun pointed at her head upon entry to a skincare clinic, the security guard did not hesitate to point the gun at her arm instead.
The unidentified poster has been massively ridiculed by Indonesian netizens.
https://twitter.com/afrkml/status/1285152498609647616?s=20
If you don’t know, then find out. This is what’s wrong with society. They don’t understand something, they have many questions, but they’re too lazy to find out by themselves.
https://twitter.com/darrellfernando/status/1285384698919743488?s=20
If you don’t have a brain, what is there to damage?
People be scared of the thermogun emiting radiation whereas the thermogun actually measures the infrared radiation energy of our head lmao@BilalFireza @inirafkarilo @txtdarikmbng @Rewinooo @proggerino
— bim0 (@poopepiepie) July 21, 2020
Experts have come forward with scientific reasoning to unanimously deny the claim, including former COVID-19 Task Force spokesman Achmad Yurianto.
“Scientifically, numerous experts have said that this claim is not true. A thermal gun measures temperature via infra-red radiation emanating from objects. It does not use laser beams or radioactive rays like X-ray,” he said, adding that the public should be careful not to easily fall victim to misinformation.
