A year has passed since the first confirmed case of a ‘strange disease’ that the Government of China located for the first time in the province of Hubei: COVID-19.
Twelve months later, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the pathogen that causes this disease, has claimed the lives of more than one million 417 thousand people and has infected more than 60 million around the world, according to data from the University Johns Hopkins.
This month, the first signs that the world may soon have an effective tool to fight the pandemic came with the publication of results from Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca , which showed that their doses against the new coronavirus work at different percentages.
And while these results offer hope for the end of the pandemic, there are those who think about when the next could come … yes, pandemic. One of those people is Bill Gates.
The Microsoft co-founder this month started a series of podcasts with actress Rashida Jones (which you can listen to on this link ) called Bill Gates and Rashida Jones Ask Big Questions.
In his first podcast, Gates estimated that the next pandemic to hit the world may be quite close. “If we do well, it will come in 20 years, but we have to assume it could come in three years,” he said.
Gates assured that if this were to happen, the next pandemic will have a less destructive effect than that caused by COVID-19 thanks to the experience of recent months.
“Most countries will respond like Australia and South Korea, with extensive testing and quarantines. Our testing tools will be much better. We will not be so stupid on that occasion,” he added.
