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SALT LAKE CITY — State officials implemented a new travel declaration order to track the spread of the novel coronavirus, but there appeared to be some glitches in the system.
People complained they’re getting the alerts even if they’re not entering the state while Utahns said they’re getting the travel alerts while sitting at home on their couch.
Some of those residents said they don’t even live near one of the nine points of entry where travelers receive the notification as they pass through a geofenced area.
Every day since the travel declaration alert went into effect, Jean Liddell said she has received one or sometimes two a day on her phone.
“It’s like an alarm and it kind of scares the heck out of you when you get it,” said Liddell. “It is irritating, very irritating.”
The emergency alerts asked her to fill out a survey about COVD-19 because she just arrived in Utah.
The problem was she was at home in Roosevelt, Utah — about an hour away from the Utah-Colorado state line.
“I haven’t left the state in months and months,” Liddell said. “I don’t even go to Colorado.”
The alerts are supposed to go off when drivers enter the state or when travelers land at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Joe Dougherty with the Utah Division of Emergency Management said the alerts are crucial.
“They make the state of Utah aware of people who are coming into the state and if they’ve experienced symptoms and if they’re coming from an area where there’s been widespread transmission,” Dougherty said.
We narrowed the alert areas for the governor's entry order to limit alert spillover into residential areas near St. George and Vernal. See the yellow boxes on maps.
— Utah Division of Emergency Management (Utah DEM) (@UtahEmergency) April 12, 2020
I-15 about 10 miles from UT/AZ state line
US 40 close near UT/CO state line
Feedback: https://t.co/nWusa506JCpic.twitter.com/UxSCPmd5Hc
He said state officials know there are some kinks in the system that need to be worked out. He said they’ve heard about glitches in St. George, Uintah and Duchesne counties and just across the Idaho border.
One woman who lives in Ballard, Utah, which is about 50 miles from the Utah-Colorado state line, said she got 13 alerts Sunday morning alone.
“Yeah 13 alerts is definitely excessive and that’s why we’re looking at making adjustments every single day,” said Dougherty.
State officials said they did expect there to be a few bugs when they launched the travel alert system on Friday.
They said they’ve already worked some of them out, but want to hear about areas where there are still problems.
You can tell them right on the survey that comes through with the alert.
