Do people need to be home by 11.40pm to avoid disinfectant spray? Fact Check

ByCraig Haley

A message spreading across social media warns readers to make sure they are “off the street” by 11.40pm and have all their doors and windows closed because helicopters will be spraying disinfectant in the area.

FALSE

The message as it appears on social media can be read below.

Tonight from 11:40pm nobody should be on the street. Doors and windows should remain closed as 5 helicopters spray disinfectants into the air to eradicate the coronavirus. Please process this information to all of your contacts

Similar versions of the message have appeared in other countries and languages as well.

Ce soir à partir de 23h30, personne ne pourra être dans la rue, fermer les portes et les fenêtres. 5 hélicoptères vaporisent du désinfectant dans le cadre du protocole d’éradication du Coronavirus, propagez à tous vos contacts! Suisse

The message is false. There have been no reports of any country, region or locale using helicopters to spray disinfectant onto populated areas, and no official guidance has been issued by any entity advising residents to be home by a certain time.

Of course, even if the messages above were true (they’re not) they’d still be useless since they fail to mention a time or location as to when the curfew applies. This means the message has travelled across the world, itself spreading to countries including France, Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom, Egypt and United Arab Emirates.


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This in turn has led to plenty of denials from various entities located where the message has spread.

Among the many denials, the New York City Emergency Management issued a rebuke when the rumour spread across different New York suburbs.

The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority in the United Arab Emirates also released a statement denying that helicopters will be spraying disinfectant.

The Egyptian government denied the rumour on their State Information Service website.

Messages like this that fail to address a time and location are wholly useless. More so when they describe an activity that isn’t even happening anywhere across the world. Please don’t spread this alarmist and false post if you do see it on your social media feed.