Purpose: The situations of COVID-19 will certainly have an adverse effect over and above health care on factors of the internet of things (IoT) market. To overcome all the above issues, IoT devices and sensors can be used to track and monitor the movement of the people, so that necessary actions can be taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Mobile devices can be used for contact tracing of the affected person by analyzing the geomap of the travel history. This will prevent the spread and reset the economy to the normal condition. Design/methodology/approach: To respond to the global COVID-19 outbreak, the social-economic implications of COVID-19 on specific dimensions of the global economy are analyzed in this study. The situations of COVID-19 will certainly have an adverse effect over and above health care on factors of the IoT market. To overcome these issues IoT devices and sensors can be used to track and monitor the movement of the people so that necessary actions can be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Mobile devices can be used for contact tracing of the affected person by analyzing the geomap of the travel history. This will prevent the spread and reset the economy to the normal condition. A few reviews, approaches, and guidelines are provided in this article along these lines. Moreover, insights about the effects of the pandemic on various sectors such as agriculture, medical industry, finance, information technology, manufacturing and many others are provided. These insights may support strategic decision making and policy framing activities for the top level management in private and government sectors. Findings: With insecurities of a new recession and economic crisis, key moments such as these call for strong and powerful governance in health, business, government, and large society. Instant support measures have to be initiated and adapted for those who can drop through the cracks. Mid- and long-term strategies are required to stabilize and motivate the economy during this recession. Originality/value: A comprehensive social-economic development strategy that consists of sector by sector schemes and infrastructure that supports business to ensure the success of those with reliable and sustainable business models is necessary. From the literature analysis and real world observations it is concluded that the IoT, sensors, wearable devices and computational technologies plays major role in preserving the economy of the country by preventing the spread of COVID-19. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.