| Record | OBS-0585 |
|---|---|
| Category | Health/Pandemics |
| Status | DEBUNKED |
| Summary | A documentary titled 'The New Normal' suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic was planned by a group of tech elites who are dictating to governments globally, and that life after COVID-19 could see a world with harsh tyrannical rules governed by a centralized totalitarian state. Proponents point to Event 201, a pandemic simulation held in October 2019, as evidence that Bill Gates and others had prior knowledge of the pandemic. The simulation was a tabletop exercise organized by Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, the World Economic Forum, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and it simulated a fictional coronavirus pandemic. |
| Origin | The claim emerged in early 2021, circulating via a documentary called 'The New Normal' created by happen.network and shared on social media. |
| Claimed |
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| Evidence / consensus | Event 201 was a tabletop exercise designed to model pandemic preparedness and response, not a prediction. Johns Hopkins has stressed that it was organized due to a growing number of epidemic events and was based on a fictional coronavirus pandemic. The simulation had key differences from COVID-19, such as the origin of the virus (pig vs. bat). |
Sources are external and provided for verification. Listing does not imply the Observer endorses their claims.