COVID-19 is a scripted narrative to justify closed borders or force residents to remain home.
The claim appeared in a post (archived here) published by Ben Grady on Facebook on March 13, 2020, under the title "Latest Intel". It opened:, Social media users saw this on Facebook:, , "As evidence of the situations seriousness, President Trump, as well as leaders around the world, have taken drastic actions to try to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus - which has been declared a national emergency in the United States, deemed a pandemic by the World Health Organization, caused countries to lockdown populations and sickened and killed thousands of people.", "Simply put, the medical crisis sweepig the globe has nothing to do with the right-wing conspiracy about sex-trafficked children, as the post suggests. Still, Gradys Facebook page is filled with many such posts.", On March 17, 2020, Grady posted this to Facebook:, , A week earlier, he posted this:, , "Users on Gradys Facebook page have called out his rants, including the post on March 13, 2020, laying out the supposed scripted narrative.", One user simply said; "Laughable. This is,some weird,conspiracy theory shit.", "In fact, the National Institutes of Health released a statement on March 17, 2020, imploring people to follow medical guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus - which has no known cure at this time. The orgnizationss website has this written on top:", COVID-19 is an emerging, rapdily evolving situation., "Contagion, a 2011 scripted movie that did fictionally depict a deadly outbreak, has soared into iTunes top-10 movie rental charts since January, the month when the coronavirus first was diagnosed in the United States.", "While hoaxes and conspiracies have gone viral amid the coronavirus outbreak, Lead Stories has debunked a great many of them. Heres a sampling:", See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:, Alexis Tereszcuk is a writer and fact checker at Lead Stories and\xa0an award-winning journalist who spent over a decade breaking hard news and celebrity scoop with RadarOnline and Us Weekly.\n\nAs the Entertainment Editor, she investigated Hollywood stories and conducted interviews with A-list celebrities and reality stars. \xa0\n\nAlexis’ crime reporting earned her spots as a contributor on the Nancy Grace show, CNN, Fox News and Entertainment Tonight, among others., Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or\n      inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.\n      \n      Spotted something? Let us know!., Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or\n        inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.\n        \n        Spotted something? Let us know!.
Fact Check: COVID-19 NOT A Scripted Narrative To Justify Closed Borders Or Force Residents To Remain Home | Lead Stories