WHO Official: Mpox Is Not the New COVID-19, Lockdowns Not Likely

‘Are we going to go in lockdown in the WHO European region, it’s another COVID-19? The answer is clearly: ’no,'' the UN official says.

An undated colorized transmission electron micrograph of mpox virus particles (pink) found within an infected cell (yellow), cultured in the laboratory, captured at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Integrated Research Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Md. NIAID/Handout via Reuters

An official with the World Health Organization (WHO) said that mpox is not the same as COVID-19 and signaled there will not be lockdowns or similar measures, in comments about a week after the UN health agency declared an emergency over the virus.

“Are we going to go in lockdown in the WHO European region, it’s another COVID-19? The answer is clearly: ‘no,’” said Han Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, in a live-streamed media briefing on Tuesday. “Two years ago, we controlled mpox in Europe thanks to the direct engagement with the most affected communities of men who have sex with men,” he said.