Abstract
Technology-driven control measures could be an important tool to control the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This study evaluates the potentiality of emerging technologies such as 5G and 6G communication, Deep Learning (DL), big data, Internet of Things (IoT) etc. for controlling the COVID-19 transmission and ensuring health safety. The healthcare sector is able to provide a unified, rapid, and incessant service to people by applying modern wireless connectivity tools like 5G or 6G during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study has identified eight key areas of applications for the COVID-19 management like infection detection; travel history analysis; identification of infection symptoms; early detection; transmission identification; access to information in lockdown; movement of people; and development of medical treatments and vaccines. Data have been collected from the respondents living in Sakaka city, KSA during pandemic. This study reveals that most people receive information from social networking sites, health professionals, and television without facing any challenges. The analysis shows that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, about 42% of respondents felt tense always or most of the time in a day. Only 28.6% of respondents felt tense sometimes, whereas the remainder (about 30%) did not feel tense in relation to the COVID-19 crisis. Satisfaction with COVID-19-related information is also positively correlated with COVID-19-related information literacy (r = 0.53, p < 0.01) that is also positively correlated with depression or emotion, anxiety, and stress (r = -0.15, p < 0.05). The long-term pandemic is creating several psychological symptoms including anxiety, stress, and depression, irrespective of age.