Amid the coronavirus pandemic, a social media message has gone viral claiming that the World Health Organisation has advocated against practising social distancing and mask-wearing norms. However, WHO has quashed the viral message stating that they have not issued any such message and COVID-19 technical head Dr Maria Van Kerkhove's statement was taken out of context.

According to a Facebook post, circulated by Susie Tete, WHO has done a complete u-turn. She claimed that Dr Maria Van Kerkhovehas said that 'we should be following the Sweedish model. Adding more, Tete stated, 'We can go back to work, we can take the stupid masks off, which were never needed in the first place'. Apart from this, she also shared a Youtube video. ‘Argentina Is Doing It’ WhatsApp Video Virus Will Not Hack Your Mobile Phone in 10 Seconds, Here’s the Truth Behind Viral Post Claimed to Be Aired on CNN. 

Here's the post by Susie Tete:

Following the social media post went viral, WHO on June 16 asked people to wear masks. It said, "There are lots of things that we want to be doing right now, but they aren't necessarily what we need to be doing right now - please make good choices." Also, looking closely at the June 5 video of Dr Van Kerkhove, one can see that the COVID-19 technical head saying, "We are advising governments to encourage that the general public wears a mask. And we specify a fabric mask -- that is, a non-medical mask."

Here's what WHO said on June 16:

So, the Facebook post by Susie Tete is fake.

Fact check

WHO Advocated Against Practising Social Distancing and Mask Wearing Norms Amid COVID-19 Pandemic? Global Health Organisation Debunks Fake Social Media Post
Claim :

WHO has made a U-turn on its policy of advocating people to practice social distancing and mask-wearing norms

Conclusion :

WHO has quashed the viral message stating that they have not issued any such message and COVID-19 technical head Dr Maria Van Kerkhove's statement was taken out of context.

Full of Trash
Clean

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2020 02:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).