IoT-Q-Band: A low cost internet of things based wearable band to detect and track absconding COVID-19 quarantine subjects

The world health organization (WHO) has declared the novel coronavirus disease (nCoV or COVID-19) outbreak a pandemic, and quarantines are playing a vital role in containing its spread. But globally, the defections of the quarantined subjects are raising serious concerns. If COVID-19 positive, the absconding quarantine subjects can infect more people, which makes the timely detection of them vital. As the literature suggests, a wearable makes a subject more compliant towards healthcare routines/restrictions; thus, in this work, we have designed an IoT based wearable quarantine band (IoT-Q-Band) to detect the absconding. While designing it, we kept in mind the cost, global supply chain disruption, and COVID-19 quarantine duration, which the WHO recommends. This wearable prototype, with the bundled mobile app, reports and tracks the absconding quarantine subjects in real-time. IoT-Q-Band is an economical solution that could benefit lowincome regions to prevent the spread of COVID-19.