Bill Gates is warning that the US is still very much at risk from the coronavirus.
He believes that due to many people refusing to wear face masks and not practicing social distancing, that the country ise heading for another big round of infections in the fall when the temperatures start to cool.
The Billionaire philanthropist added that he was disappointed that the US, under President Trump, had not taken a leadership role in preventing and ending the pandemic.
Money Control reports: In an interview with CNN, Bill Gates said the virus may be back in October and November in greater numbers in the US “if we don’t restrain our behavior more than it looks like we are right at the moment”
Though he was speaking specifically about the US but considering how countries globally have more or less followed a similar timeline to open the economies it may translate into the virus getting stronger and spreading further around October and November across the world.
In the interview, Gates stresses on restraining behaviour or using masks and following social distancing better to arrest the spread further. He adds that quarantining COVID-19 positive cases and contact tracing is helping many countries control the virus.
Gates has been working in the field of health and sanitation as part of his philanthropic efforts through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Notably, a TED talk by Bill Gates in 2015 was much talked about after Coronavirus outbreak took shape after it first surfaced in China in December 2019.In the talk, Bill Gates had said, “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war. Not missiles, but microbes. Now, part of the reason for this is that we’ve invested a huge amount in nuclear deterrents. But we’ve actually invested very little in a system to stop an epidemic. We’re not ready for the next epidemic.”
Niamh Harris