Last Updated : Aug 10, 2020 02:57 PM IST | Source: Moneycontrol.com
United States only country to have coronavirus ‘testing insanity’: Bill Gates
Business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates has said that the US administration employed a “very inequitable way to get the most worthless test results of any country in the world” despite paying “billions of dollars”.
Business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates...
more... has criticised the United States administration’s response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, saying that the slow testing rate and lack of fair access to individuals is “mind blowing”.
Speaking to CNN on August 9, the Microsoft co-founder called the US' testing protocols “insanity”. Pointing to long queues for COVID-19 tests, Gates said only “very wealthy people have access to quick-turnaround tests”.
“It’s mind-blowing that you can’t get the government to improve the testing because they just want to say how great it is,” Gates said.
He added that the country has employed a “very inequitable way to get the most worthless test results of any country in the world” despite paying “billions of dollars.”
Gates further said that the US testing process had “created incentive for these commercial guys to have long lines because … you pay as much for the late result as the timely result. No other country has the testing insanity – because they (government) won’t talk about fixing it, because they think that they’ve done a competent job.”
The 64-year-old said that lack of a national lockdown had resulted in states that had no COVID-19 cases in the first wave, reporting large number of infections in the second wave.
Comparing US' response to that of the European Union (EU), Gates said that lack of restrictions and no emphasis on wearing of masks had contributed to increased cases.
Gates' criticisms echo statements made by various public health officials, who say that the country’s delayed testing has impeded contact tracing and isolation of infected individuals.
President Donald Trump, however, has so far resisted any criticism, defending his country's testing strategy as “the best in the world.”
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