Bill Gates says US needs to increase COVID-19 testings; asserts on 10 week nationwide shutdown
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday suggested that the United States needs to increase the testing for coronavirus and aggregate the results to fight against the deadly virus. He further asserted on a nationwide approach towards physical distancing until the COVID-19 cases go down in the US, which might take 10 weeks or more. Earlier, Gates had called for a 10-week nationwide shutdown in the US as the number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 2,00,000 in the country.
Bill Gates in his tweet wrote, "The federal government needs to step up on testing: far more tests should be made available, and we should aggregate the results so we can quickly identify potential volunteers for clinical trials and know with confidence when it’s time to return to normal." He further wrote, "Extreme physical distancing measures will make a big difference in the U.S., but we need a consistent nationwide approach. Until the case numbers start to go down across America—which could take 10 weeks or more—no one can continue business as usual or relax the shutdown."
The US currently stands at the top of the list with 15 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases worldwide, which is more than 210,000 cases.
On Wednesday, the US reported 1,037 COVID-19 deaths, the state of New York being the epicenter in the country.
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