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Bill Gates defends China's coronavirus response: Billionaire says Beijing 'did a lot of things right' at the start of the pandemic and claims criticism of the Communist Party is a 'distraction'
PUBLISHED: 03:50 BST, 27 April 2020 |
It’s too soon to be talking about whether China deserves blame for the coronavirus outbreak and efforts to shift the focus onto Beijing are a ‘distraction,’ according to Bill Gates, who criticized ‘incorrect and unfair things’ said about the Communist-run country.
‘China did a lot of things right at the beginning, like any country where a virus first shows up,' the Microsoft co-founder told CNN on Sunday.
‘They can look back and say where they missed some things.’
Gates, one of the world’s richest men, said that the US handled its COVID-19 response ‘particularly poorly’ compared to other countries that have minimized the economic damage.
‘You know, some countries did respond very quickly and get their testing in place, and they avoided the incredible economic pain,’ he said.
‘It’s sad that even the US that you would have expected to do this well did it particularly poorly.
‘But it’s not time to talk about that.’
Gates continued: ‘This is the time to take the great science we have, the fact we’re in this together, fixed testing, treatments, and get that vaccine, and minimize the trillions of dollars and many things you that you can’t even dimensionalize, in economic terms, that are awful about the situation we’re in.
‘So, that’s a distraction.
‘I think there’s a lot of incorrect and unfair things said, but it’s not even time for that discussion.’
Unnamed US officials said earlier this month that intelligence agencies were investigating whether coronavirus emerged from a lab in Wuhan.
While the American government has ruled out the conspiracy theory that coronavirus was unleashed by China as a bioweapon, some officials have speculated that the pathogen may have been allowed to escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
China has denied this allegation and international governments and agencies say there is no evidence to support this claim.
The broad scientific consensus holds that SARS-CoV-2, the virus’ official name, originated in bats.
Gates on Sunday also defended the World Health Organization, the United Nations-run agency that has been accused of being soft on China.
He called the WHO ‘phenomenal’ and said that the US is highly dependent on it.
‘In the retrospective, we’ll see things that WHO could have done better, just like every actor in this whole picture,’ he said.
‘But the WHO has a strong connection with one country. That country is the United States.
‘The number of CDC people who are there, people who used to work for the CDC, there’s no UN agency more connected to a country than WHO is to CDC.’
As of Sunday, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 987,590 cases of new coronavirus.
The number of deaths had risen to 55,519.
China and the WHO have emerged as the biggest targets of criticism from President Trump, Republican Party officials, and their supporters.
Trump this month announced that the US would cease to provide funding to the WHO.
The president said that the organization 'failed in its basic duty' in allowing the pandemic to take hold.
Since stepping down as CEO of Microsoft in 2008, Gates has shifted his focus to philanthropy.
He and his wife together run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Melinda Gates this month slammed Trump's decision to halt funding to the WHO.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...Gates-defends-China-coronavirus-response.html
- Microsoft co-founder pushed back against criticism of China in CNN interview
- US handled COVID-19 response 'particularly poorly' compared to others, he said
- Gates said criticism of China over coronavirus outbreak was a 'distraction'
- He also defended World Health Organization as a 'phenomenal' agency
- Republicans have accused China of not being transparent about origins of virus
- Trump this month announced US would halt funding to the UN-run WHO
- Decision to halt funding was blasted by Gates' wife, Melinda Gates
- Gates' foundation is second largest donor to WHO behind the United States
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
PUBLISHED: 03:50 BST, 27 April 2020 |
It’s too soon to be talking about whether China deserves blame for the coronavirus outbreak and efforts to shift the focus onto Beijing are a ‘distraction,’ according to Bill Gates, who criticized ‘incorrect and unfair things’ said about the Communist-run country.
‘China did a lot of things right at the beginning, like any country where a virus first shows up,' the Microsoft co-founder told CNN on Sunday.
‘They can look back and say where they missed some things.’
Gates, one of the world’s richest men, said that the US handled its COVID-19 response ‘particularly poorly’ compared to other countries that have minimized the economic damage.
‘You know, some countries did respond very quickly and get their testing in place, and they avoided the incredible economic pain,’ he said.
‘It’s sad that even the US that you would have expected to do this well did it particularly poorly.
‘But it’s not time to talk about that.’
Gates continued: ‘This is the time to take the great science we have, the fact we’re in this together, fixed testing, treatments, and get that vaccine, and minimize the trillions of dollars and many things you that you can’t even dimensionalize, in economic terms, that are awful about the situation we’re in.
‘So, that’s a distraction.
‘I think there’s a lot of incorrect and unfair things said, but it’s not even time for that discussion.’
Unnamed US officials said earlier this month that intelligence agencies were investigating whether coronavirus emerged from a lab in Wuhan.
While the American government has ruled out the conspiracy theory that coronavirus was unleashed by China as a bioweapon, some officials have speculated that the pathogen may have been allowed to escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
China has denied this allegation and international governments and agencies say there is no evidence to support this claim.
The broad scientific consensus holds that SARS-CoV-2, the virus’ official name, originated in bats.
Gates on Sunday also defended the World Health Organization, the United Nations-run agency that has been accused of being soft on China.
He called the WHO ‘phenomenal’ and said that the US is highly dependent on it.
‘In the retrospective, we’ll see things that WHO could have done better, just like every actor in this whole picture,’ he said.
‘But the WHO has a strong connection with one country. That country is the United States.
‘The number of CDC people who are there, people who used to work for the CDC, there’s no UN agency more connected to a country than WHO is to CDC.’
As of Sunday, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 987,590 cases of new coronavirus.
The number of deaths had risen to 55,519.
China and the WHO have emerged as the biggest targets of criticism from President Trump, Republican Party officials, and their supporters.
Trump this month announced that the US would cease to provide funding to the WHO.
The president said that the organization 'failed in its basic duty' in allowing the pandemic to take hold.
Since stepping down as CEO of Microsoft in 2008, Gates has shifted his focus to philanthropy.
He and his wife together run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Melinda Gates this month slammed Trump's decision to halt funding to the WHO.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...Gates-defends-China-coronavirus-response.html
