Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates criticized the US' response to the pandemic, particularly its slow turnaround times for Covid-19 tests.
In his interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Gates mentioned the lack of efficient Covid-19 tests more than six months into the pandemic.
“Even today, people don’t get their results in 24 hours. It’s outrageous that we still have that,” Gates said.
The Johns Hopkins University data revealed that the US has suffered over 6.7 million coronavirus cases, resulting in nearly 200,000 deaths. This places the country with a much higher rate of infection and death per capita compared to other developed countries, including Germany, South Korea, Canada, and Australia.
Inadequate testing was challenging during the initial phases of the coronavirus pandemic though the number of tests has improved over time. Gates believes that political leaders and health authorities must publicly admit that the amount of testing is still not enough.
He added that the system can be more efficient through new ways, adding that “we can’t pretend that we get a good grade even today.”
“I do think we need to own up to the fact that we didn’t do a good job. Part of the reluctance I think to fix the testing system now is that nobody wants to admit that it’s still outrageous ... The U.S. has more of these machines, more of this capacity than other countries by a huge amount. And so partly the reimbursement system is creating a perverse incentive,” Gates said.
Death rate reduction
In a different interview, Gates said that the death rate would be significantly reduced by the end of this year but a Covid-19 vaccine will play a role in returning to normalcy.
“You can see the therapeutic benefit faster than the protective benefit,” Gates said in an interview that aired Tuesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “So I think there’s a good chance we’ll have substantial death rate reduction by the end of the year with the combination of those new tools.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced its donation of $100 million to coronavirus vaccine research and treatment efforts in February as part of the World Health Organization’s request for $675 million in contributions to curb the spread of Covid-19. Moreover, the foundation announced an additional $1.6 billion to the Gavi vaccine alliance, a group that aims to immunize children amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Also I’d say monoclonal antibodies are probably the most promising class …You have people like Regeneron, Eli Lilly, and AstraZeneca doing some pretty strong work,” Gates noted.
While these new therapeutics will largely help Covid-19 patients suffering from severe symptoms, Gates clarified it would not “drive us back to complete normalcy.”
“Until you really block transmission, have long periods of time without anybody going in the hospital, the concern is going to be there,” he said.
Gates also said that he is “enthused about all the vaccines that the U.S. has funded.”
“We live every day with our vaccine experts talking to these companies because how we put the world’s resources behind these isn’t just driven by a normal sort of market thing. This is cooperation to figure out within a country and across countries where this vaccine should go,” he added.
