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Bill Gates Says U.S. Was Too Slow and Missed Its Chance to Avoid Coronavirus Shutdown

COVID-19 started spreading so rapidly that there seemed no chance to stay on the sidelines of the virus. However, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates holds another opinion. Bill Gates believes that the U.S. could have avoided coronavirus shutdown and stay short of stay-at-home policy.

On Tuesday, Gates shared his view in a live stream interview with Chris Anderson of TED. He said:

“The U.S. is past this opportunity to control (the coronavirus) without shutdown. We did not act fast enough to have an ability to avoid the shutdown.”

He added:

“There’s the period between where we realized it was transmitting and now where we should’ve done more.”

Further, Bill Gates stated that the coronavirus shutdown is disastrous for the U.S. economy. Other countries will also suffer. But in the situation given, people have to maintain the coronavirus shutdown of 6 to 10 weeks. Gates stated:

“It’s very tough to say to people, ’Hey keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner, we want you to keep spending because there’s some politician that thinks GDP growth is what counts. It’s hard to tell people during an epidemic … that they should go about things knowing their activity is spreading this disease.”

In addition, Gates said more tests of possible coronavirus patients are essential:

“In terms of testing, we’re still not creating that capacity and applying it to people in need. The testing thing has got to be organized, has got to be prioritized. That is super, super urgent.”

According to the former Microsoft leader, the world was not ready for the pandemic. The necessity to isolate is a kind of ultimate measure, but not only governments need to do a lot but also people themselves can do to help.

Recently, Bill Gates decided to step down from Microsoft and focus on his philanthropic efforts in global problems. In particular, he is now paying attention to global health. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he and his spouse founded in 2000, has pledged up to $100 million to fight COVID-19 worldwide. Besides, the foundation is giving an additional $5 million to help Washington state officials deal with the crisis.

Several days ago, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: INO) said it got a $5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As the company is working on the coronavirus vaccine, the foundation decided to speed up the process and provide money to the biotech giant. Above all, the foundation paid for the shipment of 15,000 medicinal molecules to a leading laboratory in Belgium. There, scientists are testing these molecules as a potential cure to COVID-19.

Bill Gates Says U.S. Was Too Slow and Missed Its Chance to Avoid Coronavirus Shutdown

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