No, confinement is not planned in France in February because of the MPVh virus

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Other publications assure that the World Health Organization (WHO) “activated its highest global alert level“and that”the French must prepare for the worst“.

These videos, viewed hundreds of thousands of times and widely shared, quickly spread to other platforms like Facebook and X, as well as in Arabic and English.

“Is this a joke?“, “And it starts again“, we can read many times in the comments of these publications. However, these assertions are completely unfounded. Neither the WHO nor the French government have made such announcements.

In a note published on January 7, 2025, the WHO stated that there was “no cause for alarm over the recent increase in cases of respiratory diseases caused by HMPV in China“. Contrary to rumors, the organization has not activated its highest alert level, as it did at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A satirical source behind the rumors

A large portion of TikTok videos are accompanied by the same audio, which states: “The government would have met for an exceptional last-minute commission to prepare the country for potential contamination. For President Macron it is unthinkable to relive the Covid episode a second time, declared Prime Minister François Bayrou“. This content comes from an account named “P News”, which claims bias.”satirical” et “parody“.

The original video, which has accumulated more than 884,000 views in a few days, ends with an explicit mention: “Subscribe for more misinformation“.

On TikTok, accounts presenting themselves as news media amass tens of thousands of subscribers. They mostly imitate the graphic identity of classic media then convey disinformation, aiming above all to garner as many shares as possible, as AFP has already explained here.

MPVH, a virus identified in 2001

Chinese authorities, who have recognized an increase in HMPV cases, have stressed that it corresponds to the usual seasonal trends of respiratory infections in winter, also insisting that the current situation differs from that of the pandemic that the world has known five years ago.

Unlike Covid-19, in fact, HMPV is a well-known virus, recalls the WHO.

Indeed, the coronavirus was unknown when it emerged in humans at the end of 2019. The population had never been exposed to it and was not immune, increasing the risk of complications.

Conversely, MPVh was discovered for the first time in 2001. It has therefore been circulating for a long time, which implies a certain level of immunity. The virus “is part of the cocktail of viruses to which we are exposed every winter“, says John Tregoning, professor of vaccine immunology at Imperial College London.

Public health advice for hPVD is similar to that for the flu, he continues. In case of infection, “rest, drink and avoid spreading it to others“, specifies the specialist. “Ventilate spaces well, cover your mouth when coughing, or wash your hands“limit the risk of infection,” he adds.

“Almost every child will have at least one MPVh infection before their fifth birthday.“, says Paul Hunter, professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.

And many people will be infected several times during their lives, he says.

Health is often the subject of false or misleading claims, AFP regularly publishes verification articles which you can find here or here.