On Friday 30 December 2022, Luxembourg's Ministry of State, together with the Ministry of the Interior and the High Commission for National Protection (HCPN), confirmed that another test of the GouvAlert national alert system will take place on Monday 2 January 2023.
This monthly test will involve both sirens and SMS messages, but limited to a specific area. As a result, those present in the following municipalities will receive an SMS message from the GouvAlert application: Käerjeng, Dippach, Pétange, Differdange, Sanem, Leudelange, Reckange-sur-Mess, Mondercange, Schifflange and Esch-sur-Alzette.
Only people whose mobile phones are connected to a mobile phone base station in the above municipalities at the time the alert is issued will receive an SMS message.
No personal data will be collected or stored by the state as part of the public alert system tests. Moreover, and in order to ensure that real and test alert messages are distinguished, the passage "No action required / No action required / Keine Handlung erforderlich" will only be mentioned in the test messages.
The ministries' statement mentioned that a certain delay may elapse between the sending and the reception of the test SMS messages, which would explain why not all people will receive the test message at the same time; also, no individual communication channel can achieve 100% coverage. However, to achieve satisfactory coverage, 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 different alert channels, to identify any points for improvement and, above all, to make members of the public aware of using the different alert channels. The test strategy, which is part of the long term strategy 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 which could have an impact on civil security.
Anyone with any sussestions for improvement are welcome to send feedback to the government by email: lu-alert@mi.etat.lu.
