Facebook Messenger will help governments and health organizations deliver coronavirus-related info

Facebook is engaging in a new partnership with health organizations, the UN, and UNICEF to help them deliver fast and reliable information about the current pandemic to the general public, Engadget reports. One of the planned changes will allow the aforementioned organizations to proactively send messages to people who have connected with them via Messenger.

Facebook is also partnering with the hackathon provider Devpost to organize a special online contest for developers, aimed to bring onboard new messaging solutions for the Messenger platform, tackling various COVID-19 related issues. The company will help winning projects become a reality as fast as possible, and engineers will receive invitations to attend F8 2021, including flights and accommodations, as а part of the prize.

“Organizations like UNICEF and Pakistan’s Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSRC) are also using Messenger to ensure people have the latest information about COVID-19”, wrote Facebook on the news section of the official Messenger site.

Last week, WhatsApp announced that it’s launching an information hub to offer guidance, tips and general help in battling the spread of misleading rumors and panic over the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, the US government is reportedly in talks with Google and Facebook about using location data from smartphones in order to keep the quarantine in place.