BERLIN: Germany's coronavirus track-and-trace app, used by millions of people to alert them to potential exposure to the virus, entered into "sleep mode" on Thursday, reported German news agency (dpa).
According to Germany's Ministry of Health, the so-called Corona Warn App will not be updated or developed until further notice after its contracts with service providers SAP and T-Systems expired on May 31.
Given the more relaxed pandemic situation, the function for potential exposure warnings was switched off on May 1. However, users can keep and use the app on their phones, for example, to use their electronic vaccination certificates.
The app had enabled about nine million people to trigger more than 270 million warnings following a positive test, according to its developers. After encounters with someone who had tested positive, users would receive a red warning display.
Since its launch on June 16, 2020, the app has been downloaded more than 48 million times. Up to 35 million users had actively used the application.
According to the ministry, the app can be "woken up" should the situation become critical again. German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach appealed to users not to delete the app from their phones.
"It may very well be that we have to use it again for Covid-19. But it may also be that we develop it further for other infectious diseases," said Lauterbach.
