fact-checking

Fact check: Bill Gates did not craft contact tracing bill

USA TODAY

The claim: Bill Gates helped design the TRACE Act, which would fund coronavirus testing and contact tracing efforts

As communities around the country begin to ease social distancing measures, debates about how to ensure public health have intensified.

Discussion has especially targeted recently introduced House legislation, H.R. 6666: COVID-19 Testing, Reaching, And Contacting Everyone Act, which would fund $100 billion for the work of various medical groups which perform COVID-19 testing.

Claims that the bill has been influenced by outside corporations or business elites feature prominently.

"This is what Bill Gates and George Soros want to do...Secretly stick you with a chip while testing you for the coronavirus...the Dems have a bill on the house floor ready to vote on it to require this....House Bill 6666...." a graphic on Facebook shared nearly 200 times reads.

Various other claims suggest the TRACE Act permits mass surveillance of individuals, as well as mandated quarantines and vaccinations.

The TRACE Act does not allow for any of these things, and Bill Gates was not involved in the crafting of the bill.

The TRACE Act’s intended effect

Sponsored by Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., the TRACE Act would provide $100 billion to faith-based groups, medical centers and other organizations that offer COVID-19 testing. The funding would be intended to help expand coronavirus testing as well as the purchase of personal protective equipment for medical professionals.

Contact tracing is the public health practice of documenting where an infected person may have been and with whom he interacted so health officials can accurately estimate the spread of virus. The process may involve the collection of documents, interviewing exposed individuals as well as the use of technology to monitor people's movements.

The TRACE Act does not specify a preference for any form of contact tracing and does not designate a role for the federal government in collecting data on people or using it for any means. The bill does give funding priority to groups that operate in low-income and minority communities.

“The bill does not force you or your loved ones to do anything at all,” a press release from Rush’s office reads. “With that being said, if you or a loved one does have the coronavirus, it is advised that you do self-quarantine and maintain social distance from others.”

Jeremy Edwards, a spokesman for Rush, confirmed that no private firms or outside groups were consulted while crafting the legislation. He also said Rush was indirectly advised on the subject after participating “in a number of briefings and calls with various agencies, including the CDC, on the importance of contact tracing.”

Neither Microsoft nor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have advocated for the TRACE Act.

Bill Gates and contact tracing

The Gates Foundation denied involvement in the crafting of the TRACE Act in a statement to USA TODAY.

"In our home state of Washington, our staff have provided advisory support to public health officials on their COVID-19 response efforts. This has included participating in discussions about epidemiological approaches, such as testing, isolation, contact tracing and quarantine. The Gates Foundation has not provided grant funding to expand contact tracing in the U.S.," the statement reads.

In early March, the Gates Foundation began funding expanded home testing for COVID-19 in the Seattle area but the program was halted by the Food and Drug Administration in May, pending further oversight.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began sweeping the globe, Gates has spoken positively about various efforts to curtail the virus, including contact tracing.

Gates devoted a section of his April 23 essay on the pandemic to contact tracing efforts, writing it is “unlikely” that Western countries will adopt the more stringent contact tracing efforts as have been seen in countries like China, Singapore and South Korea.

“I think most countries will use the approach that Germany is using, which requires interviewing everyone who tests positive and using a database to make sure there is follow-up with all the contacts,” Gates continued.

The Germans separately implemented several of the practices proposed in the TRACE Act. Germany at first proposed a centralized model of data collection for its digital contact tracing efforts but has since opted for a decentralized strategy, similar to those developed by American technology companies to be deployed by local authorities.

Gates argued in that same essay, as well as during an April 27 Vox interview, that contact tracing efforts were necessary for reopening efforts to succeed. “Right now, in the U.S., we have not filled the testing and contact tracing structure or innovations, much less these secondary therapeutic or vaccine innovations,” he told Vox.

Gates also spoke favorably about efforts by tech companies to develop digital means of contact tracing, like a Bluetooth mechanism jointly established by Apple and Google.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has supported efforts to increase research into testing for COVID-19 since early February but has not directly funded any contact tracing initiatives.

Our ruling: False

While Bill Gates is a staunch proponent of expanding testing for COVID-19, as well as stronger contact tracing efforts, he wasn’t involved in developing the TRACE Act. We rate this claim FALSE because it is not supported by our research.

Our fact-check sources:

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