In January 2021, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the state premiers declared it erforderlich, necessary, that every health office use the contact tracing software SORMAS by the end of February. The German County Association replied to the health minister that only about 80 health offices were using it, and that it considered the goal weder für erstrebenswert, noch derzeit erreichbar, neither desirable nor achievable at present. The association wrote that health offices had been forced to communicate with the Robert Koch Institute by fax. A government report to a Bundestag committee in February 2021 gave a higher figure, 202 of 376 health offices. The two figures come from different sources and dates. According to the health ministry, the federal government could only play a supporting role, because the decision lies with the states and the health offices.