Bill Gates: We need ‘extreme shutdown’ of 6 to 10 weeks

LOS ANGELES — Philanthropist and billionaire Bill Gates said that the US should shut down the entire country for a short period of time to control the spread of the coronavirus and predicted that the number of cases will peak until April, according to a report on

Yahoo News.

Gates believes that America needs six to 10 weeks of “extreme shutdown” of regular life to get a handle on the coronavirus outbreak, contradicting comments from US President Donald Trump.

“It’s very irresponsible for somebody to suggest we can have the best of both worlds,” the Microsoft co-founder said in an interview with TED on Tuesday.

“What we need is an extreme shutdown so that in six to 10 weeks, if things go well, then you can start opening back up.”

Gates noted that while isolation in populated areas — along with widespread testing — is difficult and “disastrous” for the economy, “the sooner you do it in a tough way, the sooner you can undo it.”

Trump recently argued that restrictions should be loosened by Easter Sunday,

April 12, with healthy people returning to work while people who are sick remain isolated.

“The expression ‘We can do two things at one time,’ ... and that includes not just economics, that also includes life and death,” Trump said. “We have to keep it that way.”

The US stock market and economy have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. And the financial situation is becoming increasingly problematic for millions of Americans as unemployment claims rose to historic 3.2 million for the week that ended March 21.

Trump asserted that the US “wasn’t built to be shut down. This is not a country that was built for this,” adding: “America will again and soon be open for business. Very soon. A lot sooner than three or four months that somebody was suggesting.”

Experts — including those in Trump’s inner health care circle — have cautioned strongly against loosening precautionary measures too quickly, as it would lead to more disaster in the longer term.