Clear recommendation needed whether or not to switch Active Region/App while traveling in Europe.

[alanrick]

Where to find the issue

The issue occurs in directly linked or indirectly linked FAQs.

Describe the issue

A traveler arriving in a different EU location is faced with the choice as to whether to continue to use the CWA, or download a local app, and also whether to switch the Local Region to the country they are traveling in or about to travel in. Some countries require Covid-19 tests to be made before arriving in the country, and some after arriving in the country to leave quarantine. So the handling of test-results also has to be taken into consideration.

Now that interoperability between several European Apps has been enabled, the in-app documentation and UI should reflect this, and the traveler should be given clear answer as to whether to stick with the CWA in the new country, or switch to the local compatible app.

Currently, this information can only be gleaned through linked faqs and is often contradictory depending on how many links you traverse. So linking is not sufficient.

Examples: Caveat: I have included the UK NHS app in these examples, even though it is no longer EU and not compatible (but uses the Google/Apple AP), simply to give examples of issues that will almost certainly occur in other apps in future, if not already. I have not installed all national compatible apps to give a comprehensive as-is comparison because what follows are simply examples.

Example 1: FAQs The EU claims that a switch is necessary when a test is performed: "You can only insert a positive coronavirus test result in the app of the country where the test was taken." https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_20_1905#gateway But elsewhere in the same FAQ "Thanks to the EU interoperability gateway service, citizens can use one single app even when they travel cross-borders, while continuing to benefit from contact tracing and being able to report a positive test or to receive an alert."

The RKI linked from the CWA recommends sticking to the original Active Area when traveling: "If you are in another EU country or in one of these countries and have made a molecular biological test (PCR test) which is positive, you can upload it to the Corona-Warn-App. To do so, it is necessary to verify your identity by calling the hotline +49 800 7540002."

(As an aside, often 800 numbers cannot be reached from other countries. My test with the French covid number failed, but the German number did work from Ireland).

Example 2: Local Capabilities The CWA does not support extended functions in other countries. So by not transferring away from the CWA you would be at a disadvantage.

Other EU apps sometimes show local information. E.g. Irish apps show local infection rates. It also enables a call-back number. UK app supports QR-Code venue registration. Local regulations may also already be supported in some apps. However, some apps do not let you use the app unless you switch to their active region (E.g. UK). So often the app's secondary value over and above the Google/API RPI tracking cannot be used unless the Local Region is set to the local country (deactivating the CWA).

In future, we can expect local diversification to play an even more important role.

Suggested change

Because linking to FAQs will inevitably lead to different sources (RKI, Telekom, SAP technical, BDI...) with often outdated information contradictions are inevitable. So linking to FAQs is not sufficient. One bullet point in the "Learn More and Help" wizard is what's needed. Alternatively, a sentence of recommendation in the Transnational Exposure Logging section.

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Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-6170

[alanrick]

Note - I deleted example 3, which showed the exposure logging as only being active since the Active Region was re-activated. I cannot reproduce this with the Irish App or any of the other EU compatible apps. Apologies if this caused anyone on the team to perform additional research.

[heinezen]

Hey @alanrick ,

Thanks for the input. However, I'm still not sure whether you are addressing one issue or multiple issues at once. It would be better if you would create individual issues for each example in the respective repositories (cwa-website or cwa-wishlist).

Furthermore, I should note that your suggestion of putting the information is probably not practical, since we cannot update the app as often as the FAQs.

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Corona-Warn-App Open Source Team

[alanrick]

I'm trying to answer the question in the title "Clear recommendation is needed whether or not to switch Active Region/App while traveling in Europe". As you can see from the examples having different answers spread over different FAQs is confusing and worth avoiding.

My crude analysis of the other 8 transnational apps took several hours but resulted in a clear "yes - switch apps". Having this embedded in the app avoids the FAQ conflicts and confusion while simplifying the decision when arriving at the border.
I don't see any reason why this answer will change, even when more apps are added.

[ndegendogo]

@alanrick wow - I did just look at your Excel sheet with the comparison of the apps. Nice. I was not aware how many countries there are meanwhile. Do you know if all these contries participate in DEK distribution / exchange with each other? And another question: What is your definition of "open source"?

[alanrick]

Thanks @ndegendogo . They are just scrappy notes and you've already found the first mistake. Germany is of course opensource, and Ireland sadly isn't. I added links to the repositories as I only stumbled on them by accident and they may not be true. I assume the DEKs (Diagnosis Keys?) are exchanged, but strictly speaking it's my interpretation of "Interoperable - this app already talks to another app" from the official EU table.

All credit to the EU for fostering this diversity coupled with integration. And all credit to the German Warn App which appears to be the only one to support returning the results of a test in the app (after the qr-code scan).

[alanrick]

@heinezen I’ve noticed that other apps display information on-place but extracted from a central source-of-truth using an API.

This appears to me to be the ideal solution in terms of trustworthiness, reliability and dynamic. Ideally this question would be answered in the transnation section using this technique and that would fulfil your wish for it to be kept up to date.

[dsarkar]

Internal Tracking ID: EXPOSUREAPP-6170

[Ein-Tim]

FYI: The Twitter account @coronawarnapp included this question in this thread:

Frage: Soll ich im Ausland die #CWA nutzen oder ländereigene Apps?

Durch die länderübergreifenden Risiko-Ermittlung (Interoperabilität) müsst Ihr nicht die App der anderen Länder installieren.

Die Apps dieser Länder sind mit der #CWA interoperabel: ➡️ http://coronawarn.app/de/faq/#interoperability_countries

Falls es zu einer Testung im Ausland kommt, ist es eventuell notwendig, andere Apps zu installieren.

Bleibt Ihr im Ausland, nutzt die #CWA und wollt nach einem positiven Test warnen, verhält es sich wie bei einer Testung in Deutschland ohne #CWA-Anbindung.

So geht's: Ihr müsst die Tele-TAN-Hotline anrufen (+49 30 498 75402). Die Nummer ist auch aus dem Ausland erreichbar.

Dort stellt Ihr die Situation dar und bekommt eine Tele-TAN zum Warnen.

Mehr Infos: ➡️ http://coronawarn.app/de/faq/?search=Corona+Warn+App+Ausland

[alanrick]

Closing this issue because interoperability is now widespread and well-known, and the pros and cons of switching will significantly depend on individual preferences.