Not just marketing, but also politics. For example, early on in the pandemic, the Chinese government launched a push to reframe their response as a shining example for the rest of the world rather than a failure - and at the heart of this propganda effort was a publication explaining their approach so others could copy it, which claimed the whole thing was founded on mass IR thermometer screening to find people to test. (The document did not appear to be an accurate description of how China actually suppressed Covid-19.) The WHO then jumped on this, doing a tour of major Western publications to amplify China's claims. Journalists and politicians in Western countries also then merrily lept on this to go after governments they disliked, pointing at the lack of IR temperature screening to claim that their governments weren't taking it seriously like those in places like China.
China suppressed the virus not by IR scanning but by a well publicized system of travel restrictions and contact isolation/quarantine of anyone who had been in contact with a known case, regardless of whether they had a fever or other symptoms.
All this was public knowledge in February and can be verified by reviewing preprints and news articles from then.
> Journalists and politicians in Western countries also then merrily lept on this to go after governments they disliked, pointing at the lack of IR temperature screening
Curious, where did you see this? I can't remember seeing anything like that (but that's not to suggest it didn't happen)
