Facebook Twitter Tumblr Close Skip to main content FactCheck.org® A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center ![\\"Become](\\" mini.png\\"/) ![\\"Follow](\\" twitter.png\\"/) ![\\"Get](\\" ![\\"Follow](\\" instagram-1.png\\"/) ![\\"Sign](\\" ![\\"Help](\\" SciCheck’s COVID-19/Vaccination Project Learn More FactCheck.org® * Home * Articles * Featured Posts * FactCheck Posts * SciCheck * In Spanish * 2024 elections * Players Guide 2024 * Debunking Viral Claims *Ask a Question *Ask FactCheck *Ask SciCheck * Donate * Topics *President Biden *Donald Trump *Kamala Harris * J.D. Vance *Tim Walz *health *Coronavirus *immigration * climate change * View All *About Us * Our Mission * Our Process * Our Funding * Our Staff * Undergraduate Fellows * Awards * Request a Correction * Contact Us *Search *More * Viral Claims *Subscribe * Instagram *Threads * YouTube *X (Twitter) *Facebook * TikTok * FactCheck On the Air *Mailbag In Spanish # CDC document evaluates strategy to protect displaced people of COVID-19 By Jessica McDonald Posted on August 18, 2021 This article is available in both English and Spanish English Spanish * * * * * ## SciCheck Compendium A document from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzes the challenges of using a “shelter” strategy to protect from COVID-19 to high-risk people living in refugee camps and similar environments. But conservative commentator Candace Owens misinterpreted the document to imply that what the agency was proposing was to put high-risk Americans in camps, wrongly comparing it to the “Germany of the 1930s”. ## Full story Last year, the CDC posted a document on its website that evaluated the called a safeguarding strategy to limit the number of serious cases of COVID-19 in “humanitarian settings,” such as human camps displaced. Under this strategy, people at highest risk of developing COVID-19 serious illness, such as those with underlying medical illnesses, would be separated from the general population of the camp in an effort to protect them from a infection with the new coronavirus. The CDC document, which is titled “Operational Considerations provisional measures to implement the protection strategy to prevent COVID-19 infections in humanitarian settings”, does not support the strategy but explains his reasoning and raises several potential concerns about it. But some conservatives, including popular commentator Candace Owens, have misinterpreted the text of the document to falsely claim that the agency is considering putting high-risk Americans in camps. ![\\"\\"](\\" The CDC actually produced a document that argues for putting people in high risk in camps to 'protect' people at low risk from them,” Owens wrote in a tweet on August 9, linking to the page of the CDC. “No, this is not a joke, and yes, each of the people who have made a reference to Germany in the 1930s have been vindicated,” he added. Owens. His tweet was later shared by multiple users on Instagram and Facebook. “I hope everyone realizes that the CDC has talked about putting people in camps to separate them from the low-risk population. Hello Germany Nazi!” says a message reposted on Facebook. “It's like I don't even They will try to hide these things.” Owens has already been the subject of numerous fact-checking articles, by us and by others, including stories about COVID-19. Other groups have also spread the false claim, including the news outlet conservative communication Epoch Times. “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detailed in a July 26 report options for creating camps to isolate Americans amid the COVID-19 outbreak,” the media company in an Instagram post promoting a shoot live Q&A on August 10. That publication is accompanied by a photo of two healthcare workers wearing masks and head coverings with the American flag, with the question: “Does Camps CDC virus?” In fact, there are no “CDC virus camps” and the agency never proposed such thing. The report, furthermore, is from July 26 of last year, during the Trump administration. Jade Fulce, public affairs specialist at the CDC, told us that the agency report was specific to “humanitarian settings” and was created in response to a March 2020 document from the School of Hygiene and London Tropical Medicine that advised using a shelter-in-place strategy “in camps and similar settings for refugees and displaced people internal” in order to reduce the burden of COVID-19. That document, which states that “forcibly displaced populations… may be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 epidemics due to overcrowding, lack of access to clean water and hygiene, and limited access to health services,” describes the creation of temporary “green zones” for vulnerable people to “limit, if not completely eliminate, contacts that may result in spread … between high- and low-risk people.” The CDC document explains that its purpose is to “highlight potential Strategy implementation challenges from the perspective of CDC and guide discussion around implementation, in the absence of data empirical", since the ideas of the document of the School of Hygiene and Medicine London Tropical have not been tested. “In theory, safeguarding can fulfill its objective of protecting populations “high risk of illness and death,” the CDC document mentions. “However, the implementation of this strategy requires compliance strict protocol. The accidental introduction of the virus into a green area may result in rapid spread among the most vulnerable populations that the strategy is trying to protect.” Far from endorsing the strategy, the agency details the multiple problems logistics and ethics of separating to protect, as proposed in the document from the United Kingdom. The study, for example, suggests that people with high risk to clean their own spaces, but the CDC notes that it could be a challenge if those individuals have disabilities or cannot move easily. Likewise, on the recommendation that each green area have a dedicated bathroom for high-risk people, the agency notes that the document also advises against starting any new construction, but that is unlikely there will be enough facilities beforehand. The CDC also raises concerns that more people than expected in displaced persons camps may be considered higher risk, complicating even more the execution of the approach; that camps might need continue the strategy for a long time; and that the reservation could have negative psychological impacts that could worsen mental health. Fulce explained that the CDC gave its opinion on the safeguarding strategy because the agency sees it as part of its global response work to the pandemic. "A way we support global partners is through interpretation and analysis of new data and research related to COVID-19,” he said. “CDC has identified several limitations on the use and impact of this type of protection in the general well-being and mental health of communities those who are asked to adopt it. Safeguarding can involve problems ethical issues that could be difficult to address,” Fulce added. “The CDC recommend a careful review of these limitations and ethical issues before considering protecting the population to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. This review can help avoid the negative consequences that "They could occur with the implementation of a reservation." Claims suggesting the CDC is planning to isolate high-risk Americans are, therefore, completely false. He document not only refers only to displaced people, but the agency's position on strategy is at best unenthusiastic, mainly highlighting the challenges and risks of a strategy of protection in places that are deciding whether to adopt it. Translated by Elena de la Cruz. Editor's note: SciCheck's COVID-19/Vaccination Project is possible thanks to a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation does not have any control over our editorial decisions, and the views expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the point of view of the foundation. The objective of the project is to increase access to information accurate about COVID-19 and vaccines, and reduce the impact of information wrong. * Categories * In Spanish *Misconceptions * Distortion of scientific findings * Misrepresentation of government guidelines Previous StoryPublications misinterpret a CDC report on a COVID-19 outbreak in Provincetown Next StoryThey use sequencing to identify delta and other variants of the coronavirus Donate Now Because facts matter. ![\\"SciCheck\\'s](\\" ##### SciCheck\'s COVID-19/Vaccination Project ###### Preempting and exposing vaccination and COVID-19 misinformation. ![\\"Project](\\" ##### Vaccination/COVID-19 Project ###### Preventing and exposing misinformation about COVID-19 and its vaccines ![\\"SciCheck\\"](\\" scicheck.png\\"/) ##### SciCheck ###### Fact-checking science-based claims. ![\\"Facebook](\\" facebook.png\\"/) ##### Facebook Initiative ###### Debunking viral claims. ![\\"Players](\\" ##### Players Guide 2024 ###### The special interest groups behind the TV ads. ![\\"Viral](\\" viralspiral.png\\"/) ##### Viral Spiral ###### Don't get spun by internet rumors. ![\\"Sign](\\" ##### Sign Up ###### Get free email alerts. ![\\"Mailbag\\"](\\" mailbag.png\\"/) ##### Mailbag ###### Letters from our readers. ![\\"On](\\" ##### On the Air ###### Our staff on TV and radio. ![\\"NewsFeed](\\" ##### NewsFeed Defenders ###### A media literacy game to detect misinformation. * Archives *Privacy * Copyright Policy * Contact Us * Report Accessibility Issues and Get Help © Copyright 2024 FactCheck.org ® A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania
The CDC actually produced a document that argues for putting highrisk people in camps to 'safeguard' lowrisk people from them every single person who has made a reference to 1930s Germany They have been vindicated