German Covid-19 Warn-App launches in EU, Switzerland, Norway, UK ⋆

The Corona Warning app is an app that helps to track and interrupt SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19-trigger) infection chains in Germany. The app is based on technologies with a decentralized approach and informs people when they have been in contact with an infected person. covid-19 warn app

Transparency is crucial to protect the population and increase acceptance.

The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the government’s central research institute for disease control, said on Twitter that the Corona Warn-App is now available from the App Store and Google Play in every EU member state, Switzerland, Norway and the UK.

#CoronaWarnApp jetzt in App bzw. Play Stores aller EU-Mitgliedsstaaten sowie Schweiz, Norwegen, Großbritannien verfügbar. Weitere Informationen hier: https://t.co/AGtO9rhgmE

Hier der aktuelle Stand der Download-Zahlen: pic.twitter.com/dnTCxwlfxu

— Robert Koch-Institut (@rki_de) July 6, 2020

The app has reached 15 million downloads so far, it added on the social medium.

How does the app work?

Collect IDs nearby

The Exposure Notification Framework (from Apple and Google) on a mobile device sends a regularly changing code (so-called Rolling Proximity IDs) and at the same time searches for IDs of other smartphones using Bluetooth Low Energy and stores the IDs locally. The IDs are only valid for 10 to 20 minutes and are cryptographically derived from temporary keys that change every 24 hours.

Share test result of people with symptoms (optional)

If the respective laboratory supports the electronic process, tested persons can call up their results using the QR code that they received during the test.

Distribute the list of keys to those reported as infected

In the event of a positive test result, people are asked to upload their temporary keys to the server for the past 14 days. To prevent misuse, the back end of the Corona Warning app first verifies the positive test result. Upon confirmation, the server inserts the temporary keys into a list that is sent regularly to all apps.

Check for contact with people who have reported being infected

After a mobile device has downloaded the list of all available keys of the people who tested positive, the Exposure Notification Framework derives the respective IDs and checks locally whether these correspond to the locally collected rolling proximity identifiers. In the event of contact, the risk is assessed and the person receives appropriate instructions.

The main goal of the Corona Warning app is to inform people who have encountered a person infected with COVID-19 as quickly as possible about this encounter. From an epidemiological point of view, the processes of encounter tracking can be accelerated by the Corona warning app helping to inform people at risk more quickly.

This means that possible infection chains can be recognized and interrupted earlier. This can also help to loosen the existing restrictions in order to normalize social life again.

In addition to the decisive hygiene and behavioral rules to prevent infection and many other measures, such as the extension of tests or better follow-up by health authorities, the Corona Warning app is another element in the fight against the corona pandemic. covid-19 warn app