ABSTRACT
Digitization phenomenally is logical in manner and doesn’t have any physical existence. But the magnitude of its impact on human life is dazzling. ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) had announced that social distancing can reduce the spread of COVID-19 by as much as 62%. The police force was entrusted to sternly implement the social distancing protocol with zero tolerance. Police personnel in Assam, to overcome the hazard of contracting infection, remotely monitored people under home quarantine, responding to their distress calls through a cutting-edge GIS (Geographic Information System)–based Android app developed by Innefu, Delhi, in collaboration with the Assam police. ‘Pratishruti Cancer and Palliative Trust’, along with the Assam police, launched a project called ‘COVID Sentinel’ to ensure that the quarantined people maintain social distancing and quarantine norms. The mechanism used in this project was to set up a 24×7 control room at the Assam Police Radio Organization headquarters, Guwahati, which predominantly had two segments, that is the mobile app and the desktop version. The app had metre geofencing, the crossing of which led to an alarm enabling the field police officers and the volunteers to track the person. This chapter highlights the novel initiative of the COVID Sentinel Project that has inspired many other such projects.
