Internet of Things for Current COVID-19 and Future Pandemics: An Exploratory Study

In recent years, the Internet of Things (IoT) has drawn convincing research ground as a new research topic in a wide variety of academic and industrial disciplines, especially in healthcare. The IoT revolution is reshaping modern healthcare systems incorporating technological, economic, and social prospects. It is evolving healthcare systems from conventional to more personalized healthcare system where patients can be diagnosed, treated, and monitored more easily. The current global challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the novel severe contagious respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 presents the greatest global public health crisis since the pandemic influenza outbreak of 1918. By the moment this paper was written, the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases around the world reaches more than 14 million. Since then there has been a rapid rise in the different research communities to combating this worldwide threat and IoT technology is one of the pioneers in this area. In the context of COVID-19, IoT enabled /linked devices/applications are utilized to lower the possible spread of COVID-19 to others by early diagnosis, monitoring patients, and practicing defined protocols after patients recovery. This paper surveys the role of IoT-based technologies in facing with COVID-19 and reviews the state-of-the-art architectures, platforms, applications, and industrial IoT-based solutions combating COVID-19 in three main phases including early diagnosis, quarantine time, and after recovery.