Bill Gates says US 'not doing enough' to combat COVID-19 as cases continue to spike

While the United States recorded the highest single-day rise in coronavirus infections since April, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has said that the situation in the country is “more bleak” than he would have predicted. With over 2.4 million total COVID-19 cases in the country and 124,410 deaths, Gates said in an interview with an international media outlet that the country is “not even close” to doing enough in the battle against the global health crisis. He also compared the progress in the US with that of other countries and noted it is “possible” to vigorously ramp up the coronavirus testing. However, according to the American business magnate, the US lacked ‘leadership messages and coordination’ that an individual would have expected. 

While talking in CNN Town Hall on June 25, Gates credited the spike in numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths to the lack of testing as well as contact tracing. According to him, the range of behaviours that Americans are showcasing during this time of coronavirus contagion is “huge”. On one hand, while people are being ‘very conservative’ in their actions due to the risk of contracting the fatal pathogen, some people, on the other hand, have ‘ignored’ the epidemic in the country.

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Unfortunate to call it 'political crisis'

Bill Gates also noted without mentioning any names that ‘some people’ feel the global health crisis is a political issue which is ‘unfortunate’. This came after US President Donald Trump repeatedly boasted about America’s testing being greatest in the world and even organised huge indoor gatherings to kickstart his reelection campaign. Trump also told the rally visitors in Tulsa that at one point he asked his staff to ‘slow the testing down’. In the opinion of 45th US President, more testing leads to a greater number of coronavirus infections which makes it ‘look bad’. 

Moreover, in a separate interview with an international media outlet, when he was asked if he actually asked his staff to tone down the COVID-19 testing, Trump said, “No”. However, according to US President, it is a “disadvantage” that the country is carrying out at least ‘25 million’ tests which is ‘much more’ than other countries in the world. Trump also added that ‘in a way’, it is making US ‘look bad’ for doing the right thing. 

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