Could this have anything to do with the hate crimes over the last year?
Yeah, that was my guess.
That may certainly be a significant factor, too.
I have only seen such a set up in movies set in inner big cities. Can’t remember off hand which movie though.
It’s not a thing in the Seattle suburbs, and I’ve never seen it in real life anywhere.
But, yes, I lived in China during SARs. Many companies and people in greater China started the SARs era protocols in January 2020 before Wuhan went into lock down. Unfortunately, most people with SARs were symptomatic with fevers, and not so much with Covid. Taking temperatures is much less effective with covid, unfortunately.