Catalan government creates WhatsApp bot for coronavirus information

Catalan authorities launched a new WhatsApp bot on Friday to provide people with "official and true" information on the state of the coronavirus public health crisis.

With the aim of countering fake news and unofficial sources that have been sharing questionable Covid-19-related information, the Catalan government hopes to reach a wider audience with this app as it allows people to easily share the messages they receive with others.

Anyone interested in receiving these messages must download Whatsapp and click on https://gen.cat/whatsapp or add (+34) 681 012 012 to their contacts. They must then start a chat with the word "Hola," after which they will be asked to state which subjects they wish to be informed of.