Health Ministry to send voice messages to Haredim whose phones block texts

8 April 2020, 11:34 am

Edit

The Health Ministry says it will begin to send out voice messages to members of the ultra-Orthodox community who must go into isolation as many in the community eschew smartphones.

According to a statement from the ministry, the system is now automated to send a voice message to a device that has blocked the text message from being received.

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who himself is not in possession of a smartphone, welcomes the initiative, saying it will “save lives and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.”

Israel uses surveillance tools to retrace the movements of coronavirus carriers and then messages people in contact with them to tell them they must enter quarantine.