No, WHO Has Not Released a Global Lockdown Timeline For COVID-19

A message attributed to the WHO was shared to claim that the UN body has released an official protocol and procedure of lockdown periods to fight COVID-19.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

CLAIM

As countries across the world grapple with coronavirus, a message attributed to the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been shared to claim that the UN body has released an official protocol and procedure of lockdown periods to fight COVID-19.

According to the viral message, WHO has prescribed four steps and intervals to impose lockdown.

• STEP 1: 1 day
• STEP 2: 21 days
• STEP 3: 28 days
• STEP 4: 15 days

The message insinuates that the lockdown timeline being followed by India has now been officially recognised by WHO.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

The message has been circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp with the same claim.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Source: WhatsApp/Screenshot)

TRUE OR FALSE?

False.

The Quint can confirm that there is no truth to the viral message and it is being falsely attributed to the WHO.

WHAT WE FOUND

We found that the message is being falsely attributed to the global body as WHO itself took to Twitter to rubbish these claims.

“Messages being circulated on social media as WHO protocol for lockdown are baseless and FAKE. WHO does NOT have any protocols for lockdown,” the tweet read.

The lockdown periods vary from country to country and depend on the rate at which the virus is spreading. Hence, it isn’t possible to come up with a common/ideal lockdown timeline for all countries.

Further, the viral message is based on a paper published by two Indian-origin researchers at Cambridge. The paper proposes lockdown with period of relaxation in between to contain COVID-19 spread in India.

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