Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is endorsing “strong isolation measures” on a national basis to try to mitigate the escalating coronavirus outbreak.
“I think that the pressure by fellow governors, the executive branch, the experts should be very strong so that all 50 governors are seeing that they need to do this or that there is a federal order about the social isolation,” Mr. Gates said in an interview that aired Thursday on “CBS This Morning.”
“The sooner you start, the less cases you’re going to have and the sooner we can all go back to some level of normalcy,” the billionaire said.
Most states have imposed tight restrictions on residents’ movements, though people are still allowed to go out of their homes for essential goods such as groceries or urgent medical care.
Several governors on Wednesday, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, announced they were issuing new stay-at-home orders.
The announcements came after President Trump had discussed projections showing that 100,000 to 240,000 people in the country could die from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, even if people adhere to federal social distancing guidelines.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Wednesday morning had said the federal guidance should effectively be seen as a national “stay-at-home” order.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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