Give the coronavirus app bonus benefits to increase downloads, German state says

FILE PHOTO: Timotheus Hoettges, Chief Executive Officer of Germany's telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom AG, holds a mobile phone as he attends the presentation of the new contact-tracing smartphone app that will use Bluetooth short-range radio and technology standards from Apple and Google to alert people of the risk of infection with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Berlin, Germany, June 16, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/Pool

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's coronavirus tracing app needs to be made more compelling for users by offering fast-track entry to venues and queue jumping for events, according to a proposal by the government of Germany's most populous state.

The proposal, which also envisages the app storing location data, highlights the authorities' concern at the spread of the pandemic outstripping their ability to track it.