Update in the Corona app can cause enormous confusion - that's what's behind it

Created: 03/21/2022, 13:40

By: Franziska Schwarz

An alarm in the federal government's Corona warning app (symbolic image) © Oliver Müller/Imago

The traffic light coalition is renewing its corona course, the technology its algorithm.

The official warning app now evaluates risky contacts differently.

Berlin - currently red?

Yes, is the answer of many Germans in relation to the federal government's Corona warning app.

It is the warning of risk contacts - given the current nationwide incidence, this may be life-saving information.

But some people who adhere to the Corona rules, including mask and distance, may wonder why he or she still sees a red tile on the smartphone in the app.

Against this background, Focus.de

is now reporting that the app received an update in mid-February, and that's the reason.

A red warning signal was usually displayed to users if they had been in contact with an infected person for at least 15 minutes.

Otherwise, a green tile showing "low risk" appeared in the app.

Germany: Corona warning app now bundles risk contacts

However, the new update can obviously cause confusion.

Recently, the red tiles have also appeared on the screens of people who only had several "green" contacts.

The background: The app now bundles several low-risk contacts into an “increased” risk.

The "risk minutes" of a day are thus added up.

A visit to a weekly market is used as a case study, where the contacts are brief and kept at a distance, but there are still numerous contacts.

Corona survey: majority of Germans against easing

The red tiles should therefore be seen on many smartphones in the future.

On Friday, despite the high number of infections, the Bundestag passed an amended Infection Protection Act with the abolition of most nationwide corona protection rules.

However, the federal states can, on their own responsibility, decide on further corona requirements for “hotspots” to be declared, which they regard as impractical and legally difficult – also because of the vague wording of the law.

However, a survey showed that around two thirds (64 percent) of citizens in Germany consider the relaxation of the corona virus from March 20 to be premature.

This was determined by the Forsa Institute on behalf of RTL/ntv.

A third (34 percent) think the lifting of the measures is correct.

The remaining respondents answered “don't know” or gave no answer.

The Forsa survey was carried out before the deliberations in the Bundestag and Bundesrat.