Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, 65, said Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms. The billiona...
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, 65, said Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms.
The billionaire philanthropist tweeted that he will isolate until he is again healthy.
'I've tested positive for COVID. I'm experiencing mild symptoms and am following the experts' advice by isolating until I'm healthy again,' Gates wrote.
'I'm fortunate to be vaccinated and boosted and have access to testing and great medical care,' Gates wrote in a follow-up tweet.
He added that he was joining a Gates Foundation meeting via Teams, saying that the charity is working to prevent a pandemic from happening again.
Bill Gates announced that he has Covid-19 in a tweet on Tuesday, days after the publication of his new book 'How to Prevent the Next Pandemic'. He is seen on May 3 discussing his new book
In the tweet, Gates said he is experiencing mild symptoms, but that he is following the advice of experts and isolating until he is well again
In follow-up tweets, Gates said he that he would be joining a Gates Foundation meeting via Teams and that the charity is working to prevent future pandemics
'The Gates Foundation is coming together today for the first time in two years, and I am lucky to be on Teams to see everyone and thank them for their hard work.
'We will continue working with partners and do all we can to ensure none of us have to deal with a pandemic again.'
The Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the most influential private foundation in the world, with an endowment of about $65 billion.
Bill has been a vocal proponent for pandemic mitigation measures, specifically access to vaccines and medication for poorer countries.
The Gates Foundation in October said it will spend $120 million to boost access to generic versions of drugmaker Merck´s antiviral COVID-19 pill for lower-income countries.
Gates holds his new book 'How to Prevent the Next Pandemic,' at an event at the 92nd Street Y on May 3
Speaking to CNN's Fareed Zakaria (left) at the 92nd Street Y, Gates said that people should sacrifice liberties to fight pandemics, but said he felt Americans were no longer built to do that
News of Gates' diagnosis comes just days after the publication of his book 'How to Prevent the Next Pandemic,' which was released on May 3.
In the book, Gates outlines what he feels the world should have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Calling on his experience fighting disease through the Gates foundation, Gates details how he thinks governments and the private sector can work together to prevent future pandemics.
Gates discussed the book with CNN's Fareed Zakaria at an event at the 92nd Street Y in New York City last week.
During the interview, Gates said he felt that people should accept restrictions on their civil liberties in pandemic situations, but said he did not feel the US was well equipped for that kind of sacrifice.
'Should we be willing accept some restrictions on our liberties?' Zakaria asked Gates.
'Absolutely. But you know, the US, that's not our greatest strength – that is making, in some cases, sacrifice for the collective.' Gates responded.
'If you go all the way back to World War II there was incredible sacrifice for the collective goal, the country really did come together around that.'
But Gates said that since the 9-11 terror attacks, that sort of collective spirit has largely left the US.
'We're a society of individual rights, and there's a lot to be said for that,' he said. 'So we're not optimized for pandemics.'
COVID has killed an estimated 6.2 million people worldwide since March 2020, but case numbers and deaths have been dropping in recent months
At the end of April, Gates warned there is a 'way above five percent' risk the world has not yet seen the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tech mogul and philanthropist said he did not want to sound 'doom and gloom' but warned there was a risk an 'even more transmissive and even more fatal' variant could be generated.
'We're still at risk of this pandemic generating a variant that would be even more transmissive and even more fatal,' Gates told The Financial Times.
'It's not likely, I don't want to be a voice of doom and gloom, but it's way above a 5 percent risk that this pandemic, we haven't even seen the worst of it.'
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