Has Stafford Act been evoked causing two week mandatory quarantine? Fact Check

ByCraig Haley

Viral social media and SMS messages claim that the president is going to evoke the Stafford Act due to the coronavirus outbreak, and this will lead to a mandatory 2 week quarantine for all US citizens.

FALSE

A variety of different messages have been spreading across social media and through text message. Some examples are listed below.

Please be advised, within 48 to 72 Hours the president will evoke what is called the Stafford act. Just got off the phone with some of my military friends down in DC who had a two hour briefing. The president will order a two week mandatory quarantine for the nation. Stock up on whatever you guys need to make sure you have a two week supply of everything. Please forward to your network.

Our Inteligence indicates that it is highly probable that POTUS May actuvate something called Stafford ACT, 2 week mandatory Quarantine US-wide. Preparations needed. Stock up provisions

Homeland security is preparing to mobilize the national guard.
Preparing to dispatch them across the US along with military.
they will also call in 1st responders.
they are preparing to announce a nationwide 2 week quarantine for all citizens,
All businesses closed.
Everyone at home.
They will announce this as soon as they have troops in place to help prevent looters and rioters…
they will announce before the end of the weekend,
within 48 to 72 Hours the president will evoke what is called the “Stafford Act”
The president will order a two week mandatory quarantine for the nation.
Stock up on whatever you need to make sure you have a two week supply of everything.
Please forward to your family/friends.

The claims are both false and misleading. Firstly, it is perhaps important to note that these messages have been spreading since March 16th, which means they should already be taken with a pinch of salt since the alleged “military lockdown” they describe is apparently going to be announced within 48 to 72 hours.

Secondly, claims that Trump “will evoke”[sic] (presumably meaning “invoke”) the Stafford Act in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak are a tad misleading since this has already happened (he did so on March 13th 2020) and this has no bearing on the governments abilities to orchestrate any type of mandatory quarantine, as implied by many variations of this message. That is to say, invoking the Stafford Act doesn’t result in a military enforced quarantine. The Stafford Act allows the federal government to assist states during various types of disasters and unlocks a FEMA controlled disaster relief fund. What’s more, it’s quite common. A Congressional Research report suggests the Stafford Act is evoked around 57 times each year between 2000 and 2009.


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While President Trump evoked the Stafford Act in response to the coronavirus outbreak, this is not coupled with any kind of quarantine. The messages spreading online are unfounded in that respect. The messages have also been dismissed by the White House National Security Council.

We rank this claim false.