By Jessica Mathews/News@whmi.com


A restaurant in Fenton Township is debuting an experimental walk-thru COVID-19 screening device for patrons designed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The FirePlace Bar & Grill on North Long Lake Road debuted Genatek Global’s GT1000, a COVID-19 screening device. The Tri-County Times reports the first-of-its-kind, walk-thru machine takes a person’s temperature, provides hand sanitizer and sprays a micro-mist of a safe disinfectant said to kill 98% of all pathogens. The product is hypochlorous acid; a product the Environmental Protection Agency says is safe for human consumption. A message on the restaurant’s Facebook page says the mist is a water-soluble, chlorine-based product that has been in the national water supply since 2004 and is used in groceries across the country to sanitize food products.

The machine stands nearly 8-feet tall and performs all of the functions in about 15 seconds. Walking though the machine is voluntary but the restaurant still requires patrons to wear face masks. If someone has a higher than normal temperature, they’re asked not to enter. The restaurant is leasing the machine from Genatek, which is manufactured at a warehouse in Fenton Township said to the first to be used in the country.