Hantavirus fears are manifesting as TikTok memes. (Photo illustration by Chesnot/Getty Images)
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Hantavirus anxiety is making TikTok bring back the classics—lockdown-era memes are enjoying something of a comeback on the video-sharing platform, sparked by fears of another pandemic.
World Health Organization experts insist that the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak is “not the start of a pandemic,” but social media is rife with wild rumors and speculation.
It all feels unsettlingly familiar—even ivermectin discourse has returned, to be debunked again.
While many social media users are genuinely concerned, some are coping with anxiety-inducing headlines with a healthy dose of gallows humor.
Hantavirus Fears Manifest As TikTok Memes
For many, the pandemic marked the beginning of a new online era, dominated by TikTok.
TikTok was launched in 2016, but the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020 helped fuel its stratospheric ascension as new users flocked to the app, seeking to pass the time.
Nowadays, the digital landscape is drowning in short-form video clips, but during the pandemic, TikTok was a novelty, armed with a spookily accurate recommendation algorithm.
The video-sharing app was new, exciting and something of a respite from lockdown blues—in those early days, TikTok was filled with clips of users dancing in their bedrooms and kitchens, eventually evolving into a varied meme factory.
In response to hantavirus reports, TikTokers began to bring back classic dances, inspiring others to look back at the lost trends of lockdown.
TikTok creator Robert Tolppi belted out an off-key rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” referencing an infamous montage of Gal Gadot and other singing celebrities that was derided as painfully out-of-touch, a “cringe” attempt at comforting the public.
The role of rats in the outbreak has drawn plenty of attention, TikTok creators often using rats to represent the hantavirus, posting memes about Ratatouille and the black plague.
One TikTok user squared coronavirus and hantavirus against each other in a Roblox-animated dance battle, as though the two viruses were rival pop stars.
Even a much-memed, badly dubbed Squid Game scene featuring Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae) yelling, “I’ve played these games before!” made a comeback for hantavirus discourse.
One user on X (Twitter) referenced the hantavirus with another classic clip, featuring viral Olympic breakdancer, Rachael “Raygun” Gunn.
TikTok’s pandemic throwback content highlights how often history repeats itself—so far, it’s been a very self-referential year for social media.
The beginning of 2026 saw TikTok users long for the halcyon days of 2016, resurrecting classic memes and wistfully looking back at outdated, oversaturated Instagram filters.
Social Media Freaked Out About Hantavirus Before
Oddly enough, posting memes about hantavirus paranoia is a very 2020-coded activity—six years ago, coronavirus discourse was briefly interrupted by a hantavirus scare, sparking a similar wave of memes.
According to KnowYourMeme, March 2020 saw internet inhabitants react to a vague-but-ominous report of a hantavirus case in China, prompting lockdown-fatigued commenters to post jokes about the spread of yet another pandemic, foreshadowing the meme cycle that is currently ongoing.