Commuters could be asked to take their temperatures before travelling under plans to reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission on public transport.
The measure is one of a number reportedly being considered by the government to ease lockdown measures when the time comes.
A body temperature of over 37.8C is one of the two main symptoms of Covid-19 infection other than a dry, persistent cough.
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Downing Street is expected to set out a road map detailing how restrictions can be eased this Thursday.
Another measure under consideration is thought to be the relaxation of the “two-metre rule” stipulating that people stand apart from one another.
Ministers have asked the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) to probe whether the measure is an effective and proportionate tool for controlling the spread of the virus, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The government is looking for ways to reopen parts of the economy while still keeping the so-called “R” value below one – which would mean that any person with the virus would transmit it to less than one person.
Changes to advice and rules are expected to be partly geared around boosting public confidence to go outside where safe. Recent polling shows a significant proportion of the population said they would not be comfortable if lockdown measures were lifted too soon.
A survey by Ipsos Mori found just 21 per cent said they would be comfortable using public transport in the same way as before if lockdown measures were lifted in the next month, with 61 per cent saying they would not be.
41 per cent said they would be comfortable sending their child to school while 48 per cent said they would not. More than a third (39 per cent) expressed discomfort about shopping in supermarkets in the same way as they did pre-pandemic.
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The findings show ministers will have to raise public confidence that certain lockdown measures are no longer necessary if they want to successfully reopen shuttered schools and workplaces.
Discussions are understood to be ongoing over whether schools should reopen before the summer holidays or remain closed until September.
Some epidemiologists have suggested that closing schools may not be a proportionate or necessary measure in fighting the virus because of the low susceptibility of children to Covid-19. Questions remain, however, about the extent to which they could act as carriers to transmit the illness to more vulnerable people.
The business department is expected to publish recommendations for workplaces next week, but the Financial Times reports that offices may be told to keep their staff working from home for several months where possible – in part to keep public transport from being overwhelmed.
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Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
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Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute’s silence
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NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak.
PA
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Shoppers observe a minute’s silence in Tescos in Shoreham
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Firefighters outside Godstone fire station
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6/30 Salford Royal Hospital
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7/30 Salford Royal Hospital
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Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute’s silence at University College Hospital in London
AP
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A school children’s poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute’s silence
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A man holds a placard that reads “People’s health before profit” outside St Thomas hospital
Getty
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Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute’s silence
PA
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Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
13/30 University College Hospital, London
Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE
AP
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Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute’s silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus
AP
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Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow
Getty
16/30 London
An NHS worker observes a minute’s silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Reuters
17/30 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
AFP via Getty
18/30 Belfast, Northern Ireland
NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital
Reuters
19/30 Plymouth
NHS workers hold a minute’s silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital
Getty
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NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute’s silence
Getty
21/30 Mater Infirmorum Hospital
People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers
Reuters
22/30 Waterloo Station, London
AP
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Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
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A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
26/30
Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence
PA
27/30 London
Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy’s Hospital
Reuters
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A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
29/30 Royal Derby Hospital
PA
30/30 Leicester,
NHS workers during a minute’s silence outside Glenfield Hospital
Getty
1/30
Staff react outside Salford Royal Hospital in Manchester during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
2/30
Staff inside Camberwell bus depot in London, during a minute’s silence
PA
3/30
NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak.
PA
4/30
Shoppers observe a minute’s silence in Tescos in Shoreham
Getty
5/30
Firefighters outside Godstone fire station
PA
6/30 Salford Royal Hospital
Getty
7/30 Salford Royal Hospital
PA
8/30
Hospital workers take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE across Britain for all workers in care, the NHS and other vital public services after a nationwide minute’s silence at University College Hospital in London
AP
9/30
A school children’s poster hanging outside Glenfield Hospital during a minute’s silence
Getty
10/30
A man holds a placard that reads “People’s health before profit” outside St Thomas hospital
Getty
11/30
Staff members applaud outside the Royal Derby Hospital, following a minute’s silence
PA
12/30
Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, Prime minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, stand inside 10 Downing Street, London, to observe a minutes silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
13/30 University College Hospital, London
Hospital workers hold placards with the names of their colleagues who have died from coronavirus as they take part in a protest calling on the British government to provide PPE
AP
14/30
Staff at Waterloo Station in London, stand to observe a minute’s silence, to pay tribute to NHS and key workers who have died with coronavirus
AP
15/30
Medical staff at the Louisa Jordan hospital stand during a UK wide minutes silence to commemorate the key workers who have died with coronavirus in Glasgow
Getty
16/30 London
An NHS worker observes a minute’s silence at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Reuters
17/30 Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London
AFP via Getty
18/30 Belfast, Northern Ireland
NHS staff observe a minutes silence at Mater Infirmorum Hospital
Reuters
19/30 Plymouth
NHS workers hold a minute’s silence outside the main entrance of Derriford Hospital
Getty
20/30
NHS Frimley Park Hospital staff at the A&E department observe a minute’s silence
Getty
21/30 Mater Infirmorum Hospital
People applaud after a minutes silence in honour of key workers
Reuters
22/30 Waterloo Station, London
AP
23/30
Wreaths laid outside Sheffield town hall
PA
24/30
A group of trade unionists and supporters standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
25/30
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stands outside St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh to observe a minute’s silence in tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
26/30
Staff stand outside the Royal Derby Hospital, during a minutes silence
PA
27/30 London
Police officers observe a minutes silence at Guy’s Hospital
Reuters
28/30
A woman standing outside Sheffield town hall
PA
29/30 Royal Derby Hospital
PA
30/30 Leicester,
NHS workers during a minute’s silence outside Glenfield Hospital
Getty
Even where offices do reopen, it has been suggested that they could operate at half capacity on an alternating weekly basis, with half the workforce at home at any one time. Social areas at work like canteens could be kept closed or asked to operate on a socially-distanced basis.
Other businesses may also face new guidelines or rules as they reopen: with wider walkways on building sites to help social distancing and increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in some factories.
“What you are going to get next week is really a road map, a menu of options. The dates and times of each individual measure will be very much driven by where we are in the epidemic, what the data is really saying and we are getting in a lot more data every day now and in the course of the next few days,” Boris Johnson said on Thursday at a regular Downing Street press conference.
Asked about the public transport plan, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Experts are constantly looking at best practice around the world”, and the government would carry on being “guided by the scientific evidence that is available”.
