Billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates has ramped up his calls for tougher U.S. action to beat COVID-19 and urged a “consistent” nationwide shutdown in an op-ed published in the Washington Post, as confirmed cases of the coronavirus near 200,000.
- The world’s second-richest person has been a vocal critic of U.S. authorities’ initial response to COVID-19, and urged shutdowns everywhere, in the op-ed published on Wednesday: “Here’s How to Make Up for Lost Time on COVID-19.”
- The philanthropist laid out three steps to combat the virus in the U.S.: A nationwide shutdown, increased testing (with healthcare workers at the front of the queue), and a "a data-based approach to developing treatments and a vaccine."
- Gates, 64, wrote: “Despite urging from public health experts, some states and counties haven’t shut down completely. In some states, beaches are still open; in others, restaurants still serve sit-down meals.”
- He added: “This is a recipe for disaster. Because people can travel freely across state lines, so can the virus. The country’s leaders need to be clear: Shutdown anywhere means shutdown everywhere.”
He also described a vaccine as being “half the battle”, and that facilities to manufacture the "billions" of doses needed to protect the world's population, need to be built. He praised the administration for signing recent deals with at least two companies, which includes Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals arm.
- Gates had earlier warned during a virtual TED interview that the U.S. could see up to ten weeks of isolation “in the best-case scenario” in order to minimize deaths and economic damage.
Crucial comment: “Until the case numbers start to go down across America— which could take ten weeks or more—no one can continue business as usual or relax the shutdown,” Gates said in the op-ed.
Gates concluded: “As we’ve seen this year, we have a long way to go. But I still believe that if we make the right decisions now, informed by science, data and the experience of medical professionals, we can save lives and get the country back to work."
Key background: The U.S. government is now scrambling to contain a rapidly worsening coronavirus at home, as the number of deaths surpassed those in China, while confirmed infections are at 189,000 as of Wednesday morning. More than 4,000 people have died.
Responses to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. varies from state to state, with New York, the hardest-hit state, urging residents to stay at home apart from essential trips and limited exercise, while nonessential businesses in the tri-state area are closed. But some other states, such as Arkansas, have been slower to adopt strict social distancing measures.
Tangent: Bill Gates is the world’s second-richest person, and is estimated by Forbes to be worth $101 billion. Along with wife Melinda, he chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable foundation.
This article originally appeared on Forbes.
