In 2015, Bill Gates Predicted an Epidemic Would Kill Millions. Here’s What he Says Now
Updated: Oct 10, 2020
Bill Gates interview with Ellen Degeneres April 13th 2020 - ellentube.com
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Recently Bill Gates was interviewed by Ellen Degeneres to discuss the global pandemic. The reason? He predicted this, or something like COVID-19 was coming back in 2015. Bill Gates explained back in his 2015 Ted Talk that unless we took serious action, and dedicated more resources towards pandemic prevention, we would not be ready if one hit.
It turns out, he was right.
So Ellen and a number of other talk shows and media outlets have all been asking Mr Gates on his thoughts now, and what he thinks will happen next.
In it, there is good news and bad news.
But first, let's go back to an excerpt from that 2015 Ted Talk so we can level-set:
“If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war — not missiles but microbes,” Bill Gates said in his 2015 Ted Talks. “We have invested a huge amount in nuclear deterrents, but we’ve actually invested very little in a system to stop an epidemic. We’re not ready for the next epidemic.”
If you haven't seen that 2015 Ted Talks yet, here's my article including a link to the short Ted Talks video:
Bill Gates Pandemic Warning We All Missed. 10 Things You Need to Know: COVID-19
So What Does Bill Gates Think Will Happen Next?
The Good News - Today, despite our current pandemic predicament, Bill Gates remains cautiously optimistic in flattening the curve if we're willing to continue strict quarantine practices, and ramp up efficient testing.
The Bad News - Gates does not see life getting back to normal anytime soon. We won't be going “back to normal until we have that phenomenal vaccine or therapeutics that are over 95 per cent effective.”
Gates estimated such a solution won’t arrive for another 18 months.
18 months is a long time, but it is light years in terms of how quickly vaccines are normally produced.
But if we're to be optimistic, as we should, 18 months is backed by other sources, especially when compare the parallels to the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic.
This date isn't set in stone of course, it's possible it could be shorter, or it may be longer. It really depends on what happens next.
The Gates foundation is working to move mountains so that 18 month window (or sooner) happens. They've donated 100 Million dollars to try to stop the virus by finding a cure and a therapeutic treatment as a temporary fix.
COVID-19, Community, Silver Linings, and Lessons Learned
“I feel very confident that, this time, we won’t ignore the potential for the next epidemic — that this is such a dramatic thing that has reshaped our lives and the economy and created so many tragedies, we will get ready,” Gates said. “I also think we have great examples of heroics, where people are stepping up or communities are coming together to solve these problems.
“And so, although it’s very bad news and almost a worst-case scenario, the ingenuity of people, the compassion of people ... hopefully, this will renew our sense that we’re in this together in our communities, in our country and in the world.”
Bill Gates is hopeful that a reduction in social distancing might be possible in some industries in June, but that big public events or any form of large social gatherings were unlikely for some time, due to the risk of wide spread infection again.
Social distancing has has also been great for the environment. The air in LA is cleaner than it ever has been. Dolphins have returned to the Venice canals. You and me staying home is helping mother nature heal.
But there is another great positive to take from Social Distancing.
Remote Work Has Given Us More Time in Our Days...
Remote work, human ingenuity, is shining through right now. We're finding new ways to live, and we have more time back in our days.
For many of us the rapid cultural acceptance of remote work could be one of the best things that comes from this, adding more balance and less stress in our lives.
Removing long commutes.
Reducing time spent away from family.
Increasing our time available to work on us, on our goals, and the things we've always wanted to try, or do, but just never had the time, that is, until now.
If you're interested in goal setting and moving your ideas into action the-Inspired as a full series of great content to get you motivated and moving forward! See the links below or checkout our Inspired Foundations sections to get your journey underway.
And for the full interview with Bill Gates click here.
Until next time, stay strong, stay healthy, and thrive.
- Goran Yerkovich
Get your Free eBook The Inspired Guide to Self-Evaluation when you"Subscribe" and join the thousands who read The-Inspired.com for FREE each week. Featured on Quora, Facebook, Medium and LinkedIn.
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Get your Free eBook The Inspired Guide to Self-Evaluation when you"Subscribe" and join the thousands who read The-Inspired.com for FREE each week. Featured on Quora, Facebook, Medium and LinkedIn.
About the author - Goran Yerkovich is the founder of The-Inspired.com, an online magazine designed to help readers reach their personal goals. The-Inspired includes some of the best tools, tactics, and habits from the greatest minds of today and yesterday. Goran lives in the greater Vancouver area with his wife and two cats Kimchi and Kauai.
