FACT CHECK: Does The Department Of Homeland Security Have A Training Course To Prepare To Quarantine Unvaccinated Americans?
An image shared on Instagram claims the Department of Homeland Security has a training course meant to prepare for the “mass public quarantine of unvaccinated rural Americans.”
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Verdict: Misleading
While the training course is about isolating and quarantining rural communities in times of emergencies, it does not mention doing so based on vaccination status. The course has been in use since at least 2014, years before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fact Check:
The image in the Instagram post shows what appears to be a screenshot of an article bearing the headline, “DHS TRAINING COURSE: PREPARE FOR MASS PUBLIC QUARANTINE OF UNVACCINATED RURAL AMERICANS.” The article goes on to mention a training course, titled “Isolation & Quarantine For Rural Communities,” offered by the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium (RDPC)
There is, however, no evidence that there will be a “mass public quarantine of unvaccinated rural Americans.” The training course in question is meant for “situations requiring the isolation and quarantine (I&Q) of a large portion of a local, rural population,” according to the RDPC. The RDPC is a training provider for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its curriculum is DHS certified, according to its website.
Check Your Fact reviewed the training course overview and materials and did not find any mention of vaccinated or unvaccinated people. The course overview’s five modules deal with issues such as the legal justification for quarantining and isolation, effective public communication techniques and emergency response activities, among other things, but did not mention quarantining unvaccinated individuals.
Michael Crowhurst of the RDPC told Check Your Fact in an email that the course has been in use since March 2014, and the current version is from August 2019. For example, the RDPC tweeted about the course being held in Bowling Green, Kentucky in October 2014.
Crowhurst further said the training course does not discuss quarantining unvaccinated individuals. Nor was the course created in response to COVID-19. (RELATED: Viral Image Claims ICE Agents Will Be At All Polling Stations On Election Day)
“Instructors do describe the impact of COVID-19 on best practices and recommended procedures for local responders, described in the participant guide to ensure participants have current actionable information when they leave the class,” Crowhurst added.
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