The German COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing App: A Socioeconomic Evaluation

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to governments in terms of contact tracing. Like many other countries, Germany introduced a mobile-phone-based digital contact tracing solution (“Corona Warn App”; CWA) in June 2020. At the time of its release, however, it was hard to assess how effective such a solution would be, and a political and societal debate arose regarding its efficiency, also in light of its high costs. This study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of the CWA, considering prevented infections, hospitalizations, intensive care treatments, and deaths. In addition, its efficiency was to be assessed from a monetary point of view, and factors with a significant influence on the effectiveness and efficiency of the CWA were to be determined. Mathematical and statistical modeling was used to calculate infection cases prevented by the CWA, along with the numbers of prevented complications (hospitalizations, intensive care treatments, deaths) using publicly available CWA download numbers and incidences over time. The monetized benefits of these prevented cases were quantified and offset against the costs incurred. Sensitivity analysis was used to identify factors critically influencing these parameters. Between June 2020 and April 2022, the CWA prevented 1.41 million infections, 17,200 hospitalizations, 4600 intensive care treatments, and 7200 deaths. After offsetting costs and benefits, the CWA had a net present value of EUR 765 m in April 2022. Both the effectiveness and efficiency of the CWA are decisively and disproportionately positively influenced by the highest possible adoption rate among the population and a high rate of positive infection test results shared via the CWA.

Contact tracing in Austria, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Kosovo during the COVID-19 pandemic: response review and good practices

“…Digital contact tracing as a supplement to manual contact tracing became an important instrument. Although it was successful in several countries, 20–24 others faced multiple challenges to implement it and some eventually failed. 9 , 25 , 26 Digital tools can be data management systems such as Go.Data, or digital proximity tools, such as ‘Diy Vodoma’ in Ukraine.…”

“…Nevertheless, ethical concerns related to the use of digital tools for contact tracing have been reported by several countries, including the countries included here. 9 , 20 , 22 In 2020, WHO issued guidance on the ethical considerations to guide the use of digital proximity tracking technologies for contact tracing. 27 This is highly relevant for countries and/or regions that lack a personal data protection regulation similar to the Law on Personal Data Protection in Ukraine and the European General Data Protection Regulation.…”

Disentangling Risk Management and Error Management in the Public Sector: A Theoretical Framework

“…Altering the product before a negative consequence arose is clearly a risk management strategy. It shows the necessity of risk management in contrast to error management, because without the data storage adaption, public trust in the app (Simon & Rieder, 2021) would probably have declined tremendously and led to fewer citizens using it, which in return would have reduced the effectiveness of the whole idea of contact tracing to slow down the spread of the virus (Ellmann et al, 2022).…”

Advanced Mobile Communication Techniques in the Fight against the COVID-19 Pandemic Era and Beyond: An Overview of 5G/B5G/6G

“…IPP and HIPU can be achieved. CT is a challenge for governments during the COVID-19 pandemic; Germany introduced a mobile-phone-based digital CT app [ 35 ]. The effectiveness of the app is analyzed; the insight concept associated with PIHICTD is demonstrated; and the infection cases prevented by the app are calculated using mathematical and statistical modeling (MSM).…”