Did the World Health Organization (WHO) issue an urgent statement calling for people to wear masks? No, that's not true. This statement is a fabrication.
The story appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by a TikTok account on August 20, 2023, under the title "#Urgent_happening now_Mask wearing_Globally Happening now."
The post has an Arabic text and an English translation and shows WHO General Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The video says :
Urgent appeal from WHO, wear masks
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed August 23 13:58:34 2023 UTC)
This claim is not true. The WHO did not issue an urgent appeal for people to wear masks. The WHO's latest guidance on wearing masks was updated on August 9 this year, where the directions were:
Wear a properly fitted mask if you feel sick, have been close to people who are sick, if you are at high risk, or in crowded or poorly ventilated areas.
A search of the phrase "WHO mask guidance" on thousands of credible news sources on Google did not show any reporting that the WHO would have released an urgent call to wear masks. The latest statement concerning wearing masks is the one of August this year.
