By Mary O’KEEFE

Rumors are fueling more fear during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these rumors, or lies, come from conspiracy theorists and spread quickly online.

Recently there was a rumor that made the rounds stating that the U.S. is preparing to mobilize the National Guard and first responders for a nationwide two-week quarantine for everyone including all businesses. The rumor warned people to make sure they had stockpiled supplies.

“This was a rumor and not true,” stated Roberto Alvarez, special assistant, Military and Veterans Affairs for Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “The California Army National Guard and California Air Guard have been mobilized throughout the state but the current scope of work has been around supporting the standing up of field hospitals, supporting food banks and other humanitarian tasks like that.”

But that is how rumors work. Bits of information, like the National Guard that has been out helping states with COVID-19 support, are oftentimes reworked and added onto a story to make it something completely untrue.

The National Guard Twittered about the rumor.

“We continue to hear from many of you asking if certain rumors you’ve seen online about the National Guard are true. This message in particular keeps popping up. For the record: it is not true.”

The message is on a created page that includes a copy of a National Guard emblem and has words like “Homeland Security” to make it appear legitimate.

FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] has a rumor page that can be found at https://www.fema.gov/Coronavirus-Rumor-Control, which addresses many of the rumors circulating.

FEMA disputes several other rumors, from 5G cellphone technology linked to COVID-19 to the availability of COVID-19 vaccines.

It also deals with questions concerning the stimulus package passed by the legislation and whether people should stock up on food and supplies.

The pandemic that has nearly everyone in California staying Safer at Home is stressful enough for people without their having to deal with rumors being spread that encite fear.

FEMA advises people not to believe rumors or pass them along to others, and instead go to a trusted source of information to get the facts about COVID-19.

In addition to rumors, there are a lot of scams growing out of this time of concern. The FBI is warning the public of scammers taking advantage of the COVID-19 worries. According to the FBI, one of the schemes it is seeing is impersonators pretending to be from the government that reach out to people through social media, emails and phone calls. In some cases, these criminals go door-to-door trying to convince people they are collecting money for COVID-19 testing, or to provide financial relief or medical equipment. Criminals see the opportunity to play on the public’s fears by offering “cures” for COVID-19 … for a price.

For information on how scammers are preying on the public, visit
www.fbi.gov.

  FEMA, Mary Okeefe