These 10 countries have not canceled COVID-19 safety protocols

Some countries are lifting pandemic restrictions on activities such as indoor dining and sporting events, but that doesn’t mean all COVID-19 precautions have come to a screeching halt, as a social media post suggests.

A Feb. 2 post on Facebook says that Turkey, Brazil, Britain, Sweden, Spain, Czech Republic, Mexico, El Salvador, Japan and Singapore canceled all quarantine procedures, COVID-19 tests and compulsory vaccination and are considering COVID-19 "just a seasonal flu."

The post is a screenshot of information shared by Christiane Northrup, a Maine gynecologist with hundreds of thousands of social media followers. In 2020, NewsGuard named her a "super-spreader" of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccine development. NewsGuard is a firm that tracks online misinformation.

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Each of the 10 countries continues to have quarantine and COVID-19 testing protocols. The post also gives the misleading impression that the countries rescinded vaccine mandates, but none ever had compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for their entire adult population.

All of the 10 countries have at least one form of quarantine requirements, including: 

• After testing positive for the virus (Brazil, Czech Republic, Spain, Sweden, Turkey);

• Upon arrival for non-vaccinated travelers (Britain);

• Upon arrival for all travelers, regardless of nationality or vaccination status (Japan);

• Upon arrival, for most travelers (Singapore);

• Health screening that could result in quarantine, upon arrival in the country (Mexico);

• Special quarantine for entire municipalities based on case counts (El Salvador).

Our World In Data categorizes countries’ COVID-19 testing policies in four ways: 

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• No testing; 

• Testing only for those who have symptoms and meet certain criteria, such as specific professions or contact with known cases;

• Testing of anyone showing symptoms; and 

• Open public testing available to anyone, including asymptomatic people. 

Only one country in the world falls into the "no testing" category, and that’s Afghanistan.

Turkey and Mexico limit testing to those who have symptoms and meet key criteria; Britain and Sweden test those who show symptoms; and Brazil, Spain, Czech Republic, El Salvador, Japan and Singapore all have open public testing available to anyone.

Only a handful of countries in the world have made COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all adults, and none of the 10 listed in the post are among that group.

The 10 countries have varying vaccine mandates for certain workers. For example, in the Czech Republic, police officers and soldiers are required to be vaccinated, and in Britain, it’s mandatory for home-care workers.

There has been discussion in Europe and elsewhere about treating COVID-19 as endemic — but that is not equivalent to calling COVID-19 a seasonal flu. An endemic disease circulates steadily in a specific region or population.

Reaching the endemic stage of the COVID-19 pandemic will require reducing the spread of the virus; lowering death and hospitalization rates; and keeping hospitals from being overburdened, PolitiFact has reported. And the World Health Organization has cautioned that it’s too soon to treat COVID-19 as endemic.

COVID-19 appears to have a higher infection fatality rate than influenza; estimates for COVID-19 range from 0.15% to 0.66%, while the rate for seasonal flu is around 0.1%.

A Facebook post says Turkey, Brazil, Britain, Sweden, Spain, Czech Republic, Mexico, El Salvador, Japan and Singapore canceled all COVID-19 quarantine procedures, testing and compulsory vaccination and are considering COVID-19 "just a seasonal flu."

Each of the 10 countries continues to have quarantine and testing protocols. None ever had compulsory COVID-19 vaccination for their entire adult population. Some have COVID-19 vaccine mandates for specific groups of workers.

Some European leaders have said COVID-19 should be treated as endemic — but that is not equivalent to calling the virus a seasonal flu. COVID-19 appears to have a higher infection fatality rate than influenza.

We rate this claim False.