Using IoT To Fight The COVID19 Outbreak

The whole world has come to a halt amid the global health crisis inflicted by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Several months have passed since the outbreak originated in Wuhan, China and it continues to spread despite the best efforts of the healthcare communities. At the same time, the global economy is adversely affected as businesses worldwide are bearing the brunt of this pandemic. Since no vaccine or effective remedy is currently available to treat COVID-19 patients, we are majorly relying on the existing medical facilities. However, the top priority of most healthcare organizations right now is to curb the mass spread or community transmission. 

In these trying times, as the whole world unites to fight this pandemic, we suggest technology solutions to accelerate the containment. 

At Oodles, we have extensive experience in using next-gen technologies to build innovative solutions for enterprises. Having said that, we believe that the Internet of Things can provide a nifty solution to curb the spread of COVID-19 and similar virus outbreaks. Based on our experience in IoT application development, here’s how we can prevent the community transmission of contagious coronaviruses.

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The Significance of IoT Application Development

The internet of things is rapidly transforming our day-to-day activities with improved convenience and better control over our smart devices. The global IoT network comprises of billions of connected devices that exchange information every second. Simply put, the internet of things refers to the growing network of devices that are connected to the internet. The devices can be of any type - from miniscule sensors to smartphones, wearables and automobile, all come under the IoT umbrella.

These connected devices, when combined with automated systems enable data engineers to extract information and analyze it to create an action. We can use the same technique for the early detection of potential viruses and life-threatening diseases. In addition, IoT application development can also accelerate our containment efforts for COVID-19 or any similar pandemic in future. 

Using IoT To Fight COVID-19

COVID-19 was not the first coronavirus that came into existence. We have previously witnessed similar coronaviruses like SARS and MERS with much higher fatality rate. However, SARS and MERS were only limited to relatively small geographical regions. That being said, the rate of COVID-19 contagion and the extent of spread was unprecedented. More so because we were unprepared to deal with this novel coronavirus outbreak that later took shape of a global pandemic. Data scientists claim that the early adoption of technologies like IoT and artificial intelligence might have reduced the spread significantly. However, we can still accelerate the containment of COVID-19 using AI techniques in-line with IoT app development services. Let’s explore the potential benefits of IoT in curbing the spread of viruses and life-threatening diseases.

Early Detection of Contagious Viruses

More often than not, we are not able to accurately identify the origin of a virus outbreak. The same thing happened with COVID-19 which believed to have originated from a wildlife and seafood market in Wuhan, China. However, there is no concrete evidence to justify this statement. Data scientists believe that we can prevent the catastrophe if we are able to timely trace the origin of a virus outbreak. Upon examining the place of origin, we can also trace the people who have visited there recently. 

In this context, IoT seems to an apt solution as it may accurately detect the contagion zone by analyzing the mobile phone data of millions of users. Since most users have their smartphones connected to the internet, we can use geographic information system (GIS) to trace their past locations. If a majority of the infected patients were previously roaming in the same geographical region, it is most likely to be the contagion hotspot. After identifying the origin, authorities can take stringent measures to lockdown the entire region. Furthermore, they can easily trace every person who came in contact with the infected patients and keep them in isolation.

Strengthening Compliance With Quarantine Protocol

If a particular region, province or the entire state is under quarantine, it is essential to ensure that people comply with the imposed guidelines. IoT-based surveillance equipment like remote cameras, drones, and UAVs can effectively monitor whether or not people are following the quarantine protocols. If the extent of spread is less, regulation authorities can use IoT devices to monitor the symptomatic entities for signs of illness. IoT-based mobile app development is an effective way to strengthen the surveillance activities of suspicious entities to prevent the mass spread.

Improving Medical Facilities

The biggest challenge for any state or country during an epidemic is to provide adequate medical facilities to the infected patients. Understandably, if the rate of contagion is fast, you need sufficient supplies for new patients as others recover. Another major challenge that may arise is the scarce availability of testing kits, resulting in slower detection of the virus. Besides, the daily checkups pose a risk to the doctors and nurses who come in contact with the patients. 

The use of IoT-based equipment ensures a prudent use of the available testing kits and aids improved medical facilities. IoT-based mobile and wearable apps make it easy to identify people with high risk of infection. The healthcare authorities can make the best use of the available testing kits by prioritizing tests of the people under high-risk conditions. Instead of conducting daily checkups on the patients being recovered, doctors can use IoT equipment to remotely monitor their heath conditions. IoT-based mobile app development services enable doctors to proactively monitor and compare the health data of the infected patients.

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Conclusion

The use of IoT in healthcare accelerates the containment of life-threatening diseases and viruses, let alone improving the medical facilities. There have been several instances in the past where healthcare workers used this technology for the exact same purpose. For example, researchers previously identified the cause of a dengue virus outbreak that took place in Singapore during 2013-14. The research team at MIT extracted granular details about the outbreak using the mobile phone data of the infectees. Evidently, IoT-based devices are currently being used in many countries, mainly for the surveillance of health conditions in the high-risk zones. At the same time, technologies like artificial intelligence and neural networks are being used for the robotic treatment of the infected patients. 

Why Choose Oodles For IoT Application Development Services?

We are an experienced IoT app development company that builds scalable cross-platform applications for a wide range of IoT devices. Our IoT app development services provide increased user convenience and interoperability to effortlessly manage a wide range of smart devices. Our development team uses agile methodologies in-line with the propsed software roadmap to accelerate the development process. We have successfully completed several full-scale IoT projects for cross-industry enterprises.