Bill Gates: Coronavirus may be ‘once-in-a-century pathogen we’ve been worried about’

CNBC ^ | 02-28-2020 | Noah Higgins-Dunn

[NRx]

Billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said the coronavirus that has killed at least 2,859 people and infected more than 83,700 globally may be the “once-in-a-century pathogen we’ve been worried about.”

“I hope it’s not that bad, but we should assume it will be until we know otherwise,” Gates wrote in an article published Friday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Gates and his wife, Melinda, founded The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 to help improve world health and combat extreme poverty. The foundation announced Feb. 5 that it would donate $100 million to help find treatments and expand testing for the virus, particularly for poorer populations.

According to Gates, COVID-19 poses a serious threat to the world because it’s far more deadly and contagious than many other deadly viruses.

“First, it can kill healthy adults in addition to elderly people with existing health problems,” he wrote. “Second, Covid-19 is transmitted quite efficiently. The average infected person spreads the disease to two or three others — an exponential rate of increase.” World health leaders say the disease is spread by people who are mildly ill or don’t show any symptoms at all, making it harder to contain and more contagious than other types of viruses.

The mortality rate is “many times more severe than typical seasonal influenza,” Gates said. The World Health Organization said the mortality rate of COVID-19 can differ, ranging from 0.7% to up to 4%, depending on the quality of the health-care system where it’s treated. Gates said that its current average estimated fatality rate of around 1% places it somewhere between the 1957 Asian flu pandemic (0.6%) that killed 1.1 million people and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic (2%) that killed 50 million around the world, according to data from the CDC.

[smvoice]

...”worried about”...or praying for... Mr. Gates??

[grey_whiskers]

Yeah, so now Mr. Blue Screen of Death is suddenly concerned about viruses, *after* he's made his billions.

[Old Yeller]

Gates should know plenty about viruses. Look at Windows 10.

[Bonemaker]

“1. I have no doubt the Cov-19 virus is very serious.”

I have no doubt nobody knows at this point.

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

LOL, GREAT remark great sense of humor!!!

[null and void]

[insert snarky comment about the man whose company can't release an update that doesn't need a dozen bug fixes being immanently qualified to discuss the risk of a bug...]

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

So far the false positive rate is 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's life, it's worth it.

[americas.best.days...]

Drama queen.

[VanDeKoik]

“3.41% mortality rate among those who have been confirmed to have the disease.”

Worldwide, combined.

Not in each nation individually.

Like citing the economic output of the world as an even distribution, when you have rich nations on one end and dirt poor ones on the other.

[Jane Long]

Says the guy who participated in the mock virus pandemic, last year.

[bigdaddy45]

I didn’t read that he’s an expert on viruses. All the information he conveyed has been reported. He just compiled it. The basic facts he presents are correct. But of course, since that doesn’t follow the narrative that most in the FreeRepublic want to hear, they mock and belittle.

If you have a problem with his facts, then thats fine. Lets hear them. Otherwise, you’re no better than the Democrats.

[al baby]

Shut up and code

[wardaddy]

He’s known as a germ phreak

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Yep. You think he would be thrilled because he wants less of “us”.

[DesertRhino]

Y2k, the new ice age, the population bomb and mass starvation, peak oil, the ozone hole over the arctic and CFCs, Global warming that changed into climate change, the polar bears, depleted fish stocks, the Pacific clogged with plastic, etc etc etc....

All BS.

[mewzilla]

The Italian newspapers have info putting the mortality rate between 2 and 3 percent as of this afternoon.

Sucks if it’s you, but not bring-out-yer-dead worthy.

[sergeantdave]

Gates should worry more about the viruses invading his crappy OS. But that wouldn’t generate headlines for this meglomaniac.

[aquila48]

“Bill Gates: Coronavirus may be ‘once-in-a-century pathogen we’ve been worried about’”

Then, maybe not.

[Hostage]

“Two years from now, spam will be solved.”
–Bill Gates at the World Economic Forum in 2004”

[jstolzen]

CNBC Is really on a mission to fuel the panic and hysteria and tank the economy as much as possible. The rats on that network are convinced they finally have something that will hurt Trump. Seems like every two hours they find a new angle.

AMEN to that! EVERY article I read from CNBC is doom and gloom, world is going to end type stuff.

They DEFINITELY have an agenda.

[null and void]

If you have a problem with his facts, then thats fine. Lets hear them.

He reports the mortality rate of COVID-19 can differ, ranging from 0.7% to up to 4%

Sorta true, if you count everyone who is sick, even if they haven't been ill long enough to succumb as a survivor.

If you look at people who have run the full course of the disease you've got 2867 dead, and 39555 who have either died or recovered. 2867/39555 is a 7.2% fatality rate.

WHO uses the textbook formula for historical epidemics. After the epidemic is over all the confirmed cases have had a fair and honest chance to die...