Most COVID-19 tests performed in the US are useless because of the time it takes to produce results, Microsoft founder Bill Gates told CNBC Tuesday, report agencies.
Tests that take more than 48 hours to produce results are “insane,” he said. “That test is a complete waste [of money and time]. And to all these numbers about how much we test, the majority is just complete waste,” he said. According to CNBC, due to high load, US laboratories provide COVID-19 test results in several days, a week or even more. “Right now, this thing where you wait more than three days, sometimes seven days to get a test, nobody should pay $1 for that. That’s insane,” Gates noted.
He explained that, with such long testing time, people fail to take necessary safety measures on time and continue to spread the infection.
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda head a charity foundation that operates approximately $50 billion. The foundation prioritizes fighting dangerous diseases in developing countries, as well as problems of healthcare and education in the US. Currently, the foundation allocated $300 million for development of the coronavirus vaccine and for support of the poor, who are most vulnerable amid the pandemic.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China.
Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus – named COVID-19 by the WHO – have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 16,661,800 people have been infected worldwide and more than 656,900 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 10,255,900 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
To date, 823,515 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 612,217 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 13,504 fatalities nationwide.
Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.
