Fact Check: HMPV-affected patients being dragged into camps in China? No, video is old

Hyderabad: The emergence of Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV), a respiratory illness with flu-like symptoms, similar to Covid-19, has raised global health concerns. Several countries, including India, are closely monitoring the situation. HMPV-related respiratory illnesses in China align with seasonal variations caused by viruses like influenza, RSV and HMPV.

In India, two cases of HMPV were recently reported in Bengaluru—a 3-month-old baby who has been discharged and an 8-month-old who is recovering. Neither patient has a history of international travel, as per the Union Health Ministry.

Amid these developments, a video has gone viral on social media showing people in white hazmat suits dragging people away against their will.

An Instagram user shared the video with the caption, “In China, another mystery virus outbreak!” (Translated from Telugu) (Archive)

The text on the video clip claims to show people ‘dropping like flies’ in China due to the ‘mystery virus outbreak’, which, in this case, refers to the ongoing HMPV cases.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video is old.

On a reverse image search of a keyframe from the video, we found an article on Yahoo News titled ‘Video captures screaming woman dragged to quarantine camp in China’, published on November 4, 2022.

The report included a link to a post on X (formerly Twitter) which shared a video, whose visuals matched the viral clip.

The post read, “Under Xi Jinping’s rule, every night, thousands of people are being dragged into Covid quarantine camps. (sic)” The X post was shared on October 22, 2022.

Further keyword searches led us to similar stories published by the Mirror on November 2, 2022, Next Shark (November 3, 2022) and Daily Star (November 2, 2022). The reports carried screengrabs of a video that matched the viral clip.

Here’s a comparison of a screenshot from one of the reports with the clip.

How China handled Covid-19 outbreak

As per reports from the BBC and Al Arabiya English, China’s strict ‘zero-Covid policy,’ enforced until December 2022, involved mass testing, lockdowns and the use of large isolation camps. These facilities, built across various regions, housed individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 or had been in close contact with confirmed cases.

During October and November 2022, as Covid-19 cases surged in China, reliance on quarantine camps increased. Videos showing individuals forcibly taken to these camps sparked criticism.

Public anger over these measures led to widespread protests in November 2022. Following this, the Chinese government relaxed its policies in December 2022, marking the end of mandatory centralised quarantine.

Although NewsMeter could not independently verify the video’s exact location, going by the reports regarding China’s strict Covid-19 policies which have given rise to similar incidents in many areas, we conclude that the video is old. It has no connection to the Human Metapneumovirus (HMPV) cases in 2025.

The claim is false.