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<\/div>In a blog post<\/a>, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates likened the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to a world war — with a striking difference.<\/p> “This is like a world war, except in this case, we’re all on the same side,” he wrote.<\/p> He also urged readers to look on the bright side.<\/p> “During World War II, an amazing amount of innovation, including radar, reliable torpedoes, and code-breaking, helped end the war faster,” Gates wrote. “This will be the same with the pandemic.”<\/p> But at the same time, he acknowledged the terrible suffering the pandemic has wrought.<\/p> “It is impossible to overstate the pain that people are feeling now and will continue to feel for years to come,” the memo reads. “No one who lives through Pandemic I will ever forget it.”<\/p> Gates argued in the memo that innovations in “testing, treatments, vaccines, and policies to limit the spread while minimizing the damage to economies and well-being” will eventually come about by everyone working together, noting how impressed he’s been already with “how the world is coming together to fight this fight.”<\/p> Gates has already committed $250 million<\/a> to fighting the coronavirus through The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also was one of the first to denounce president Donald Trump’s plans to defund the WHO.<\/p> Despite the criticism<\/a> and opposition to the White House’s handling of the crisis, Gates stops short of making any statements that are explicitly political, as The Seattle Times<\/em> points out<\/a>.<\/p> In the memo, Gates also underlined the importance and effectiveness of social distancing measures.<\/p> “A lot of people will be stunned that in many places we will go from hospitals being overloaded in April to having lots of empty beds in July,” he wrote.<\/p> But that doesn’t mean we should reopen America immediately — something that some US states are already planning to do.<\/a><\/p> “However, as behavior goes back to normal, some locations will stutter along with persistent clusters of infections and some will go back into exponential growth,” he wrote.<\/p> Bill gates called the return to normal society a “gradual process,” noting that breaking the rules would put everyone at risk.<\/p> He also described the new normal: “Picture restaurants that only seat people at every other table, and airplanes where every middle seat is empty. Schools are open, but you can’t fill a stadium with 70,000 people.”<\/p> That return will also rely on innovations in four key areas: treatments, better and faster testing, contact tracing, and vaccines.<\/p> “If in the spring of 2021 people are going to big public events — like a game or concert in a stadium — it will be because we have a miraculous treatment that made people feel confident about going out again,” Gates wrote. Such a treatment would have to be “95 percent effective” for that to happen.<\/p> Other treatment plans such as manufacturing antibodies or antivirals could also be effective. Gates also pointed out that possible benefits of taking hydroxycholorquine, the controversial malaria drug<\/a> touted by Trump, to fight the virus would be “modest at best.”<\/p> The memo also notes that testing will have to be expanded to include at-home testing kits, tests that “may be available in a few months.”<\/p> “Testing becomes extremely important as a country considers opening up,” Gates noted. ” You want to have so much testing going on that you see hot spots and are able to intervene by changing policy before the numbers get large.”<\/p> READ MORE: <\/strong>‘It is impossible to overstate the pain’: Fight against coronavirus will define our era, Bill Gates says<\/a> [The Seattle Times<\/em>] More on Gates:<\/strong> BILL GATES IS PISSED: “WE SHOULD’VE DONE MORE” TO STOP COVID-19<\/a><\/em><\/p> The post Bill Gates: COVID Is Like a World War, Except for One Thing<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> View original post here: In a blog post , billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates likened the ongoing coronavirus pandemic to a world war \u2014 with a striking difference. \u201cThis is like a world war, except in this case, we\u2019re all on the same side,\u201d he wrote Continue reading
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Bill Gates: COVID Is Like a World War, Except for One Thing<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"