IoT-to-the-Rescue: A Survey of IoT Solutions for COVID-19-Like Pandemics

The atmospheric buoyancy and intangible nature of fatal communicable viruses lead to rapid transmissions among individuals, resulting in global pandemics. Strategic lockdowns and mandatory social distancing are immediate solutions in such scenarios. However, this leads to operational disruptions in education, manufacturing, economy, transportation, governance, and community. Although technological assistance is beneficial in overcoming such issues, the current Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure has limitations. In this article, we provide a comprehensive review of the possible IoT-based solutions that have the capacity of combating the COVID-19-like viruses. We highlight the societal impacts due to pandemics and identify the specific lacunae in current IoT solutions. We also provide comprehensive detail on how to overcome the challenges along with directions toward the possible technological trends for future research. Compared to existing reviews, our work offers a holistic view of the cause, effects, and the possible solutions that are existing, along with already existing solutions that can be customized to serve the special needs during the pandemic.