Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has told Fox News Sunday that if citizens comply with the social distancing and self-isolation guidelines, the actual death toll from COVID-19 in the US would be lower than that one predicted by President Donald Trump.
Trump said earlier that 100,000 to 240,000 citizens could die from the virus before the situation turns for the better.
"Well, if we do the social distancing properly, we should be able to get out of this with the death number well short of that", Gates said. "This is a nightmare scenario because human-to-human transmittal respiratory viruses can grow exponentially."
Gates said if citizens had continued their daily routine like working and travelling, it would be impossible to stop the further spread of the virus until the majority of people were infected and the death toll reached massive numbers.
Back in 2015, Gates drew the public's attention by saying that the world was unprepared for the next epidemic, suggesting it should be met with a better health care system based on a medical reserve corps joined with the military along with "germ games" similar to military simulation training.
So far, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the US has reached 337,310, which makes it the nation worst affected by the virus globally. At least 9,634 people have died from the disease so far.
The State of New York remains the virus hot spot in the country. New York City alone has registered at least 2,472 fatalities from COVID-19, while the number of infections in the city has surpassed 67,500.
