Chancellery: Corona app ready for use soon

There are growing indications that a "Corona App" will soon be published in Germany, which could help to gradually ease the current restrictions on everyday life.

Berlin (dpa) - According to Chancellor Helge Braun, the planned mobile app for analyzing the corona infection pathways will be ready for use very soon - in the coming days or weeks at the latest.

In addition, the CDU politician said on the RTL / ntv editorial team's "Frühstart" program that such a tracking app is part of the federal government's exit strategy in order to gradually relax the ban on contacts and other restrictions. Specifically, this will be discussed after Easter.

According to him, the prerequisites for loosening include more intensive beds, but also improved contact tracking of infected people. "The tracking app, which must comply with EU data protection, plays a crucial role here - and more staff for the health authorities."

A group of experts recently published the technical concept. "Anyone who wants to develop this app can build on this concept," said Braun. The head of the chancellor also called for a Europe-wide uniform program. "We definitely need it across the EU." This is due solely to the European internal market and the numerous commuters who crossed the border every day. "The worst thing that can happen to us is that there are a lot of different tracking apps out there now."

The technology for tracking corona infection chains is currently being tested in Berlin by soldiers in the Julius Leber barracks. It is an app that citizens could install voluntarily and that anonymously warns them without giving names or location data if they have had contact with a confirmed infected person. Rapid availability of this technology is seen as a way to slow the spread of the coronavirus if the current restrictions on public life are relaxed at some point.