Oh, Bill Gates, we appreciate your genius and brain power but your inability to read a room leave a lot to be desired.
On Tuesday, the head of the CDC, Robert Redfield, made some promising announcements about the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines that will be coming to market soon. He also said quarantines most likely could be shortened from 14 days to 7-10 days and said we’re “rounding the corner” on controlling the coronavirus. It’s a nice thought for people to hold on to the week of Thanksgiving.
But then along comes Gates to overcook your turkey and deliver lumpy and cold mashed potatoes to those good vibrations. On his podcast “Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions,” Gates gave his thoughts on future global pandemics. While most people are content dealing with the one currently disrupting our lives, Bill goes into the future and said the next one is “almost inevitable.”
“Hopefully, it could be 20 years from now,” before adding, “but we must assume it could be three years from now. … There is a reasonable probability that the world will face something like this in the next 10 or 15 years,” he added.
Gates then made some rather sobering predictions, especially if you work in the airline or corporate real estate industries. “My prediction would be that over 50% of business travel and over 30% of days in the office will go away,” he said, regarding the lasting ramifications of the current pandemic.
Gosh Bill, any other uplifting nuggets to throw our way? Why did I ask? “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,” Gates added for his mic drop. “Not missiles, but microbes.”
Remind me not to listen to his podcast the week of Christmas!
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