The Corona warning app should remain in operation, but that won't be cheap. According to a media report, the app now costs more than 220 million euros. Other countries apparently developed cheaper solutions.
The costs for the Corona warning app continue to rise. As the responsible Federal Ministry of Health reported to "Welt am Sonntag", the 50 million euros planned for this year are not enough. Because of the “still dynamic pandemic situation and the possible increase in the number of cases in the winter months”, the decision was made to continue operating the app, the Ministry of Health continued.
According to the ministry, the "relevant contracts" will be extended until May 31, 2023. According to the spokesman, funds of around 23 million euros would be required to continue the Corona warning app in the 2023 budget year. Operating and further development of the app are expected to cost 73 million euros this year. The total costs now climb to more than 220 million euros.
The deputy leader of the Left Party, Lötzsch, spoke of a bottomless pit. The money would have been better spent benefiting the overburdened health authorities, she told the newspaper. The deputy chairman of the Greens parliamentary group in the Bundestag, von Notz, emphasized that the app continues to be a central component of the fight against the pandemic. However, he would like the ministry to be as transparent as possible about past and future costs.
The app was launched in June 2020, primarily to be able to track infection chains better and break them faster. According to "Welt", other countries operate similar apps much more cheaply. Finland's "Koronavilkku" app, which was discontinued in the summer of this year, is "just under six million euros". The Dutch "CoronaMelder" app claimed five million euros in development costs, and its operation cost a further 9.7 million euros by the end of 2021.
