Coronavirus response ‘truly a sad thing’ in US: Bill Gates

*Says rapid test results crucial so that infected individuals can isolate themselves as soon as possible after confirming that they are COVID-19 positive

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

In response to the alleged shoddy management of the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic by the United States Government since the outbreak of the virus, Microsoft Chief and multibillionaire Bill Gates has said that other countries have done a better job at handling Coronavirus.

Gates Tuesday, October 6 stated that it’s “truly a sad thing” that the US still hasn’t increased the availability of COVID-19 tests or shortened the testing result turnaround time enough to get the crisis under control, agency report said.

At The Wall Street Journal CEO Summit, the global health philanthropist and Microsoft Co-founder noted that other countries were quicker to get COVID-19 outbreaks under control through the implementation of strict lockdowns.

Other nations were able to control outbreaks through efficient, widespread testing, according to Gates.

He said: “Other countries did very good testing early on. They activated the commercial sector.

“The US, to this day, has that you don’t get quick test results. It’s truly a sad thing that we haven’t organised testing.”

In advocating the need for a stronger response though COVID-19 test processing times have improved since the start of the pandemic, Gates stressed that there is still room for improvement.

According to him, rapid test results are crucial so that infected individuals can isolate themselves as soon as possible after confirming that they are COVID-19 positive.

Gates said that taking steps to speed up test processing times is an effective way to keep the virus from being spread by people who don’t know they have it.

Ramping up the availability and speed of tests could help circumvent the need for shutdowns.

He added: “People are so tired of being restricted. And the clarity of leadership about, ‘hey, this saves lives,’ has been particularly weak in the US and a few other countries.

“Even what we do know about things that we shouldn’t be doing, particularly as the fall is going to drive the numbers up quite a bit, we’re not able to execute on that.”

China underwent a more effective lockdown and has reported a total of 90,660 cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

In September 2020, report has indicated that China had just a few dozen confirmed new cases per day.

Meanwhile, the US is still reporting upwards of 40,000 new cases per day, report said.

“The US never did a lockdown. And China proved that if you do an effective lockdown, you can drive disease to zero.

“It was extreme. It’d be hard to execute in most countries, but they got to zero,” said Gates.

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