On Friday 30 September 2022, Luxembourg's Ministry of State, Ministry of the Interior and the High Commission for National Protection announced that, as part of the overhaul of the public alert system, the government will continue the implementation of its strategy for testing the public alert system by carrying out the monthly test of the network of sirens and by sending an SMS alert to the population located in a specific area, as well as a test message via the GouvAlert application.

On this coming Monday 3 October 2022, a test message will be sent monthly to all users of the GouvAlert application (an update of the GouvAlert.lu application is available in the Apple and Google Play stores). Users who have not activated the automatic application update function on their phone can access the new version of the GouvAlert.lu application by going to the store from which they downloaded it.

The zonal alert test SMS that will be sent will concern the population present in the following municipalities: Bettendorf, Bourscheid, Colmar-Berg, Diekirch, Erpeldange-sur-Sûre, Ettelbruck, Schieren and Tandel.

It is important to note that only people whose mobile phones are connected to a mobile phone base station in the aforementioned area at the time the alert is issued will receive the following SMS: “LU-ALERT / ALERTE TEST / NO ACTION REQUIRED / NO ACTION REQUIRED / KEINE HANDLUNG ERFORDERLICH / INFOS: GD.LU/LU-ALERT”.

It should be noted that no personal data will be collected or stored by the State as part of the tests of the public alert system. Moreover, and in order to ensure that real and test alert messages are distinguished, it should be specified that the passage "No action required / No action required / Keine Handlung erforderlich" will only be mentioned in the test messages.

It should be noted that a certain delay may elapse between the sending and the reception of the test SMS, which explains why not all citizens receive the test message at the same time. It is recognised that no individual communication channel can achieve 100% coverage. However, to achieve satisfactory coverage, it should be noted that the government has chosen to implement a multi-channel approach which will ultimately make it possible to reach the greatest number of people possible, by combining the strengths of the various communication channels.

The objective of the tests is to ensure the functionality of the various alert channels, to identify any points for improvement and, above all, to make citizens aware of using the various alert channels. The testing strategy, which is part of the long term and which will take place on a regular basis, follows the objective of ensuring the resilience of the population in the face of emergency or crisis situations that could have an impact on public safety.

With a constant concern for improvement, recipients are invited to send any feedback to the government at the following email address: lu-alert@mi.etat.lu.