Disinfection robots and thermal body cameras: welcome to the Covid-free office

Not so long ago it may have seemed more like a futuristic vision of the workplace – or a hospital. But the hands-free door handles, self-cleaning surfaces, antimicrobial paint, air-monitoring display tools, UV light disinfection robots, and 135 other measures at an office block in Bucharest are here to stay, say the creators behind what they are touting as one of the world's most virus-resilient workplaces, which they hope will become the new normal in office design. Entering H3, a five-storey building in a western neighbourhood of the Romanian capital, is like learning the steps to a new dance. A flick of the wrist opens the door, and a red line marks the spot at which to stand from where a thermal body camera 2 metres away scans arrivals for signs of fever. Those who are "green-lighted" can follow the tracks to the self-clean lift, step on one of two foot pads and be transported through the building, safe in the knowledge that a UV lighting disinfection system installed in the ventilation shafts is keeping them infection-free between floors. Anyone whose head flashes red on the screen, however, is whisked away by a plastic-gloved "immune steward" into a nearby quarantine room: a glass box with a panic button and its own internal ventilation system shut off from the rest of the building.