When Wireless Communication Faces COVID-19: Combating the Pandemic and Saving the Economy

TL;DR

This paper explores how wireless communication technologies have been crucial in combating COVID-19 and supporting the economy, highlighting their roles, challenges, and future potential during and after the pandemic.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of wireless communication's role in pandemic response, including health monitoring, digital inclusion, and economic support, with insights into future applications.

Findings

Wireless tech aids in virus monitoring and healthcare automation.

Digital inclusiveness is vital for pandemic response.

Wireless technologies support economic activities like e-commerce and automation.

Abstract

The year 2020 is experiencing a global health and economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries across the world are using digital technologies to fight this global crisis. These digital technologies, in one way or another, strongly rely on the availability of wireless communication technologies. In this paper, we present the role of wireless communications in the COVID-19 pandemic from different perspectives. First, we show how these technologies are helping to combat this pandemic, including monitoring of the virus spread, enabling healthcare automation, and allowing virtual education and conferencing. Also, we show the importance of digital inclusiveness in the pandemic and possible solutions to connect the unconnected. Next, we discuss the challenges faced by wireless technologies, including privacy, security, and misinformation. Then, we present the importance of wireless communication technologies in the survival of the global economy, such as automation of industries and supply chain, e-commerce, and supporting occupations that are at risk. Finally, we reveal that how the technologies developed during the pandemic can be helpful in the post-pandemic era.