Bill Gates suggests 3-step plan for fight against coronavirus pandemic

Bill Gates, the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation, suggested a three-pronged approach to contain the spread of novel coronavirus which has claimed over 4,000 lives in the United States alone. In The Washington Post Op-Ed, Gates laid out the three-step plan to beat the virus saying the United States missed the opportunity to get ahead of the threat but there is still a “window for making important decisions”.

According to the 64-year-old business tycoon, the United States needs to implement nationwide lockdown, methodical approach for testing, and a data-based approach for developing a vaccine. In his opinion piece, Gates wrote that inconsistency in movement restrictions is a recipe for disaster as people in several states can still travel freely.

Gates advocated for a methodical and streamlined test approach where priorities should be set. He said that people in essential roles such as health care workers and first responders should be given priority for COVID-19 tests followed by highly symptomatic people. He added that such prioritisation will also help in creating a roadmap for containment.

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Data-based approach

The third and the last step suggested by the American business magnate is to abide by the procedure for vaccine development. Gates said that government officials should only inform the public about the vaccine after getting the results through rapid trials and not stoke rumours and hype around it. He argued that such informal announcements regarding a potential drug could lead to panic buying and hoarding without knowing its effectiveness.

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The reference to the hype around a drug was an apparent remark to the announcement of drug trials with the combination of Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, and Zithromax, antibiotic, which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for compassionate care use. US President Donald Trump had also tweeted about the drug combination and said that it could the “biggest game-changers”.

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(Image credit: AP)