WHO is now sending you corona-virus news

The World Health Organization (WHO) now sends users information about the corona-virus and Covid-19 disease via Whats-app. This is intended to counter fake news.

In the fight against fake news on the Sars-CoV-2 corona-virus and the Covid-19 disease, Facebook continues to go on the offensive. Following the announcement of the Corona Virus Information Center in the Facebook news-feed and the launch of an information hub at Whatsapp , the WHO now offers a new notification service on Whatsapp. Through the free service, the WHO wants to answer questions about the corona virus, as Facebook reports .

Whats-app service is said to help save lives

Digital technologies, according to WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, would help disseminate important information as quickly as possible and prevent the pandemic. "This helps us to better protect risk groups and save lives," says Ghebreyesus. WHO can reach billions of people with essential health information via Whatsapp and Facebook.

Whatsapp users can access the official numbers and situation reports on the corona-virus pandemic in this way: First save the telephone number +41798931892 in the contacts. Then send a Whatsapp message with "Hi" to this number. Otherwise, the registration also works via this link if Whatsapp is available on the smartphone or desktop. Subsequently, there should be new information every day, according to Facebook, the service automatically responds to user messages.