corona
Omikron has a significantly higher infection rate: What does that mean for the Corona warning app?
A red warning message on the Corona warning app: Are further adjustments required by Omikron?
© Thomas Trutschel // Picture Alliance
The Corona warning app was one of the first tools to slow down the corona pandemic and to inform citizens. Does it have to be adapted because of the Omikron variant?
Early on in the corona pandemic, the corona warning app was developed as a technical aid to contain the spread of the pandemic and to automatically warn contact persons. In the beginning, users received a lot of warnings, with an update in autumn 2020 it became significantly fewer. The reason for this was adjustments to the risk calculation, which now required longer or more contacts in order to receive a green or red warning.
Corona warning app: Constantly adapting to new Corona variants
There were also adjustments to the Corona Warning app afterwards: According to the app’s FAQ, there were changes on 02/23/2021, 03/19/2021 and 04/16/2021 that “improved and adjusted” the risk assessment. Background according to the developers: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, new virus variants have been discovered around the world and examined and assessed by experts with regard to infectivity and health consequences. (..) If the risk of infection changes according to new findings, we will calculate the risk Adjust the app accordingly. “
Because of Omikron: does the corona warning app have to be adapted?
Due to the significantly higher infection rate of the Omikron variant, an adjustment of the risk assessment appears to be necessary again. Like the RKI at the request of the star announced, is so far a further adjustment of the risk determination not Planned: “Such an adjustment of the parameters for the risk calculation to the Omikron variant has not yet been carried out because the data situation is not yet sufficient. As soon as sufficient data is available and an adjustment appears to be sensible from a scientific point of view, it will be carried out . “
In a newly published blog post, the RKI justifies this decision with the recommendations for action for the similar contact person identification of the health authorities. As soon as there are changes to these recommendations, the risk calculation in the Corona warning app will also be adjusted.
Technical hurdles for sharper contact detection
In addition to the recommendations of the health authorities, there is another reason why the Corona warning app is currently not being adapted to the Omikron variant: Since the Corona warning app is based on a special Bluetooth low-energy technology that Consumes relatively little electricity, it only searches for Corona warning apps in the area every 2 to 5 minutes.
If the risk assessment were to be tightened, the risk calculation time would have to be reduced to less than 5 minutes. According to the RKI, however, this would mean that significantly more random hits would lead to warnings. Among other things, strollers walking past could lead to a false warning.
Sources: RKI, coronawarn.app