Old Covid lockdown footage misrepresented as HMPV 'emergency' in China

"HMPV virus strikes China. A state of emergency has been declared amid fears that it will turn into a global pandemic," says a Malay-language Facebook post published January 6.

The accompanying two-minute video shows people dressed in personal protective equipment, with the word "police" written on the back, dragging people into custody behind a fence as other people scream for their release in the background.

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Screenshot of the false post taken January 23, 2025

The same video circulated alongside a similar claim in Arabic. 

Another video of people in protective gear dragging others away spread elsewhere on Facebook, accumulating nearly 8,000 views.

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Screenshot of another video showing authorities dragging people away

Reports that cases of human metapneumovirus (HMPV) are rising in China have sparked concern and comparisons to Covid-19, as well as a wave of misinformation on social media (archived link).

Experts have dismissed fears that the situation is comparable to the pandemic -- and the footage shared online is unrelated to the current outbreak.

HMPV cases

The coronavirus that causes Covid-19 was unknown when it first emerged in humans in late 2019. That meant people had never been exposed to it and had no immunity, raising the risk of severe illness.

In contrast, HMPV has been circulating for decades and people around the world already have some protection against it.

The WHO said January 7 that it had been in touch with Chinese health officials and had not received any reports of unusual outbreak patterns (archived link). 

"Chinese authorities report that the health care system is not overwhelmed and there have been no emergency declarations or responses triggered," the WHO said in the update.

Mi Feng, China's National Health Commission spokesperson, later said in a January 17 press conference: "Surveillance results show that all of the respiratory infectious diseases in the winter and spring are caused by known pathogens, and no new infectious diseases have emerged" (archived link).

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention's sentinel surveillance report from January 30 showed multiple viruses circulating in the country, including influenza, HMPV, adenovirus and mycoplasma pneumonia (archived link). It also noted HMPV cases were trending downward.

Covid-19 lockdown videos

A Google keyword search found the BBC originally published the video April 15, 2022 on its YouTube channel (archived link).

The British broadcaster's footage shows clashes between police and residents in Shanghai, China as the city entered its third week of strict Covid-19 lockdowns. 

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Screenshot comparison of the image from the false post (L) and the BBC video

AFP reported 25 million people in Shanghai, China's economic engine and largest city, were ordered into lockdown for nearly a month, prompting panic buying and scuffles between police and residents (archived link).

British newspaper The Guardian published a similar video of the clash between police and Shanghai residents from a different angle on April 15, 2022 (archived link).

The second video shared online, which shows people in protective gear dragging away a woman, has also circulated on social media since 2022.

Reverse image searches on Google led to an X post published October 22, 2022.

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Screenshot comparison of false post (L) and the X post published in 2022

Saudi Arabian newspaper Sada also published a screenshot of the video in 2022 (archived link).

AFP has debunked similar posts claiming China declared a health emergency over HMPV cases in January 2025 here and here.