Evaluation of the Practicability of Internet of Things in Fighting Against COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has already ravaged the world for two years and infected more than 600 million people, having an irreparable impact on the health, economic, and political dimensions of human society. There have been many papers proposing various Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to stop the spread of COVID-19, such as virus tracking, infection control, medical treatment, and health management. Due to the high popularity of IoT devices, many studies have systematically investigated related technologies, evaluating the development, and application of IoT solutions from different aspects, such as electronic security, personal privacy, disaster prediction, and artificial intelligence (AI). However, the usefulness of IoT in combating COVID-19 has not been thoroughly evaluated. Therefore, this article systematically analyzes high-quality articles published in well-known international journals and conferences from 2019 to 2022 and divides them into the technical development of prevention and treatment according to the application field of the solution, cross-comparing the research results. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the maturity of the current IoT solutions through the Standard Technology Readiness Level (TRL). Finally, through the technical efficacy matrix, the application status and development direction of the international IoT technology are analyzed by patent. Our results reveal the maturity and limitations of existing technologies to fight COVID-19. Possible future research directions are also discussed.