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Thursday, Apr. 8, 2021

Does a fictional pandemic exercise scenario conducted at Johns Hopkins prove that COVID-19 is a globalist plot for world domination?

Sarah Thompson, Lead Stories
no

Conspiracists are misrepresenting the design of this 2017 exercise about a fictional global health emergency as proof that the COVID-19 pandemic was created for the benefit of some individuals and agencies.

The scenario was an exercise about a fictional coronavirus — SPARS — in the future, and how it could be treated globally.

On page 6 of the 89-page SPARS scenario book from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security is a disclaimer: "This is a hypothetical scenario designed to illustrate the public health risk communication challenges that could potentially emerge during a naturally occurring infectious disease outbreak requiring development and distribution of novel and/or investigational drugs, vaccines, therapeutics, or other medical countermeasures."

Everything about SPARS was, as the disclaimer said, "entirely fictional."

This type of scenario exercise is used in a wide variety of recreational and vocational settings, not just in public health.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

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