The World Health Organisation has ordered governments to prepare for mega lockdowns due to a deadly monkeypox strain.
This isn’t the case. The WHO has declared monkeypox, also known as mpox, a public health emergency of international concern but has not ordered any preparation for lockdown. Additionally the WHO does not have the power to impose lockdown mandates.
Claims that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has ordered governments to prepare for “mega lockdowns” over mpox are being shared online.
However, there is no evidence that any such directive has been issued by the WHO.
A screenshot of an article with a headline claiming this has also been shared on Facebook and Instagram, and comes from a 15 August article published by The People’s Voice, a site (formerly News Punch), which has been the subject of previous fact checks by Full Fact as well as other fact checking organisations.
The screenshot also includes a picture of the WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared on 14 August that the mpox (previously known as monkeypox) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a growing number of countries in Africa was a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health Regulations.
It comes as DR Congo has recorded more than 18,000 suspected cases of the disease, and 615 deaths this year.
However, nowhere in his comments to the emergency committee on 14 August did Dr Adhanom Ghebreyesus mention lockdowns, or lockdown restrictions being imposed by the WHO.
Additionally, a global strategic preparedness and response plan announced by the WHO on 26 August includes measures to contain the mpox outbreak but does not include any reference to lockdown measures.
The WHO does not have the power to impose lockdowns on state governments.
The plan, which covers September 2024 to February 2025, focuses on “surveillance, prevention, readiness and response strategies”, including vaccinations in areas with high-risk populations.
The full report states that there is “moderate risk” of spread of mpox in other countries outside of West, Central and East Africa, and the focus there will be on preventing a resurgence in cases through “surveillance and preparedness”.
Additionally, the WHO’s Europe regional director Dr Hans Kluge told media on 20 August that the spread of mpox was not “another Covid-19”, and commenting on whether they were going into lockdown in the WHO European region over it, said the answer was “clearly no”.
Mpox is a disease caused by an infection with the monkeypox virus, a variety of orthopoxvirus. Other related viruses include cowpox and smallpox. People catch mpox through contact with an infected person or animal. It is thought to be more common among small rodents than among monkeys.
We have previously fact checked a number of false claims about mpox, including inaccurate claims it is related to Covid-19 vaccines or shingles. Misleading posts like these about global health events can cause anxiety and confusion, and run the risk of creating distrust of medical professionals.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the WHO has not issued any order to governments to impose lockdowns over the spread of mpox.
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