On Friday 3 March 2023, Luxembourg's Ministry of the Interior, together with the Ministry of State and the High Commission for National Protection (HCPN), announced that there would be another test of the national alert system this coming Monday, 6 March 2023.
The national alert system test will be via zonal alert SMS, sirens and test message on the GouvAlert application.
As part of the overhaul of the public alert system, the government is continuing the implementation of its strategy for testing the public alert system by carrying out monthly tests of the network of sirens and by sending an SMS alert to everyone located in a specific area, as well as a test message via the GouvAlert application.
The zonal alert test SMS that will be sent will concern those present in the city of Esch-sur-Alzette.
Only people whose mobile phones are connected to a mobile phone base station in the specific 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”.
The organisers have stressed 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, the text "No action required / No action required / Keine Handlung erforderlich" will only be mentioned in the test messages.
A certain delay may elapse between the sending and the reception of the test SMS, which explains 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 citizens aware of using the different alert channels. The test, 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.
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.
