United Kingdom
“No matter where you are, this Sunday at 3pm, you will receive an emergency alert”
The UK will test a new mobile phone alert system this Sunday afternoon aimed at alerting the public in emergency situations.
Posted
The government responded to the criticism by saying, “Keep calm, carry on, it’s just a test” (explanation image).
AFP
At 3:00pm on Sunday, mobile phones in the UK will sound like sirens: the government will test a new warning system aimed at alerting the public to emergencies such as fire, flood or danger. for life.
This government-initiated warning system is inspired by existing systems in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan. It will send messages to mobile phones to quickly alert the public in case of danger. The government assured that the device would be used in an exceptional manner.
No action was taken
“Wherever you are, you will receive an emergency alert this Sunday at 3pm (2p.m. GMT),” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted. “You will get a message on your mobile phone screen with sound and vibration for up to ten seconds. You will not take any action,” he added. A 10-second alarm sounds even if the phones are in silent mode.
“Keep calm, carry on, it’s only a test,” the government responded to criticism, using a famous British motto from World War II. The “Daily Mail” Tuesday’s headline: “What genius thought it was a good idea to scare the whole country at 3:00 PM on a Sunday?”
Drivers are warned not to take out their phones during the test, and those who don’t want to receive alerts can turn them off in their device settings.
A “positive development”
Organizers of the World Snooker Championship have warned they will take an early break at 3:00pm to avoid a warning disrupting the tournament in Sheffield, northern England. London theaters will ask audience members to turn off their phones so the alarm doesn’t go off in the middle of a show. Similar messages should be shown in theatres.
For Judy Edworthy, an international expert on warning systems and professor of psychology at Plymouth University (south of England), the warning system is a positive development, even if its first broadcast was a surprise. During the warning, “we can say that if people look at their phones, read the message and act on it, it will work”, he told the British agency PA.
(AFP)
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