U.K. Developing Targeted Mobile Broadcasts for Virus Alerts
- Previous country-wide alert system in March had issues
- U.K.’s coronavirus tracing app has faced numerous delays
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The U.K. is developing a “cell broadcast” system that would allow it to deliver alerts targeted to certain locations, in an attempt to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to people familiar with the matter.
A basic text message telling people to “stay at home” and linking to more information was sent to nearly every phone in the country in March, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared a national lockdown to halt the spread of Covid-19.