The future of COVID-19 contact tracing could see healthcare workers wear electronic ID tags while they work, according to trials underway at Monash University and healthcare provider Alfred Health. Researchers are currently trialling the use of Bluetooth-powered tags at the infectious disease ward at The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne. Mehmet Yuce, associate professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering, said the connectivity of the tags would help produce more accurate contact tracing data, particularly after a positive COVID-19 case is identified. “As part of our research, we set up an Internet of Things-connected contact tracing system powered by Bluetooth,” he said in a press release on Dec. 14. “Within each room, we installed beacon sensors which would identify each person entering the room based on their wearable identification tag and then transmit this data to a central receiver,” he added. “The connectivity between the beacons, wearable tags, …