Covid emergency text alerts disappear in 3 years

Emergency text alerts, which local governments have sent to notify residents daily since the early stages of the pandemic, will go away in three years.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has recently recommended local governments refrain from sending emergency text messages about the number of daily new cases in their respective areas. “It is not helpful at the current moment,” a ministry official said. “The fatigue from text messages is rising. We advised sending the messages only when there is a special occasion such as a change in disease control and prevention policies.”

Following the recommendation, the city of Seoul has halted sending daily alerts from January 20. Gangwon Province also announced that it would stop sending messages from this Friday. Among all metropolitan cities, only Busan and Jeju and 30 municipalities, including Osan of Gyeonggi Province and Jinju of South Gyeongsang Province, are still sending text messages. Still, they are also expected to stop soon. The interior ministry will devise plans to improve the alert system, including using lower volumes when sending them at night.


4g1@donga.com