The Times - UK (2020-07-31)

the times | Friday July 31 2020 2GM RM 9

News

He is the original mild-mannered tech

billionaire turned philanthropist, a

world away from his brasher successors

and their self-solicited controversies.

Yet even Bill Gates could not hold

his tongue when asked about the

coronavirus conspiracy theories

endorsed by the Tesla billionaire Elon

Musk, suggesting that his “outrageous”

comments were merely for show.

Mr Musk has courted controversy

throughout the outbreak with a series

of unscientific conjectures, doubting

the severity of the pandemic and

condemning lockdown orders as

“fascist.”

He has claimed, without foundation,

that children are immune, suggested

that tests produce too many false

positives and threatened to sue local

authorities in California for making

Tesla workers stay home from work.

Only a few months ago Mr Gates was

the object of Mr Musk’s scorn after

revealing that he had bought a Porsche

Taycan and not one of Tesla’s premium

electric cars. Mr Musk said that the

Microsoft founder had always been

“underwhelming”.

Mr Gates, however, knows his vacci-

nes, having set up Gavi, the global vac-

cine alliance, two decades ago and

pledging $1.6 billion last month for its

continued work, including on distribut-

ing a potential coronavirus vaccine.

As the victim of a series of corona-

virus-related conspiracy theories, he

had little time for Mr Musk’s thoughts.

“Elon’s position is to maintain a high

level of outrageous comments,” Mr

Gates told the business channel CNBC.

“He’s not much involved in vaccines.

He makes a great electric car. And his

rockets work well. So he’s allowed to say

these things.

“I hope that he doesn’t confuse areas

he’s not too involved in too much.”

Mr Musk has form for weighing into

areas outside his expertise. His offer to

build a submarine to extract trapped

members of a Thai football team from a

cave invited derision from a British

rescuer, who subsequently sued Mr

Musk for calling him a “paedo guy” on

Twitter.

In between tweets about the

pandemic in May, Mr Musk questioned

the high price of Tesla stock, sending it

plunging and wiping billions off share-

holders’ accounts.

Mr Gates took up his philanthropic

role after leaving Microsoft, arguing

that he could only commit to giving

away his entire fortune when he had

the time to manage the process full

time.

In the past week Mr Musk has

revived a long-running feud with Jeff

Bezos, the Amazon founder, over their

rival space ambitions and has been

accused in a London courtroom by

Johnny Depp of beginning an affair

with the actress Amber Heard when

she was still married to the Pirates of the

Caribbean star.

Responding to the Gates interview,

Mr Musk tweeted: “The rumours that

Bill Gates and I are lovers are complete-

ly untrue.”

News

excess deaths from pandemic

Spain Belgium Sweden N Ireland

6. 
   

3. 
   

2. 
   

2

Excess mortality by country

UK

Spain

France

Belgium

Italy

SpaSSpainin

FranceFFrance

gg

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

• 
  

Feb Mar April May Jun

%

Excess mortality by city

400

350

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

• 
  

London

Madrid

Paris

Brussels

Milan

Feb Mar April May Jun

%

March 20 April 3

April 17 May 1

Excess mortality in Europe

% difference from expected

mortality by week -100^306090600

Italian outbreak

at its peak, with

nine times usual

deaths in

Bergamo

Spain bearing the

brunt of Europe's

pandemic, but

south coast stays

free

Outbreaks across

Britain, with few

areas left

untouched

End of first wave

in continental

Europe

Source: ONS

Confirmed UK cases

yesterday

Daily new

UK deaths

846

38

Gates takes

a swipe at

Musk’s virus

theories

Catherine Philp

Diplomatic Correspondent

warns of new wave rolling across continent

sion brings Britain into line with an

emerging international consensus on

isolation. The government is expected

to impose quarantine measures on fur-

ther countries today.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary,

told Times Radio: “Clearly there is a

second wave rolling across Europe and

we need to do everything we can to pre-

vent it reaching these shores.” He de-

nied being alarmist, saying that “we’ve

got to do everything” to prevent a resur-

gence. Asked if advice for people to

return to work should be revised he said:

“We keep these things under review.”

He confirmed that the government

wanted to cut the 14-day quarantine for

international travellers through tests

on arrival and again after about a week.

Young people are twice as likely as

over-70s to have had coronavirus with

ethnic minority under-30s in London

having the highest rates. Antibody tests

show that 7 per cent of people in the UK

have had the virus, ranging from 10 per

cent in London to 4 per cent in the

southwest and Scotland.

Q&A

Who is this advice for?

Anyone with symptoms: a

new persistent cough, fever

or loss of sense of taste or

smell. As before, you should

isolate immediately and not

leave home.

What should I do once I’m

isolated? You should order

a test for the virus. Leaving

home to go to a testing

centre is allowed.

What happens if I test

positive? You must stay at

home for at least ten days,

rather than seven days as

previously. If you still have a

fever after ten days you

must stay at home until it

has gone. Coughs and loss

of smell can last for weeks

but you can leave home

after ten days as long as

you feel otherwise well.

What happens if I test

negative? You no longer

have to isolate.

What if a family member is

ill? You must isolate for 14

days if someone you live

with shows symptoms. If

you get ill yourself then the

ten-day rule kicks in.

Will this lead to many more

people isolating?

Government medical

advisers believe not, as the

extra three days of isolation

will be offset by those freed

after a rapid negative result.

Why has the change been

made? People are most

infectious near the start of

symptoms and the risk of

passing on the virus after

about a week is low. But

there is emerging evidence

that it can be transmitted

seven to nine days after

symptoms and officials

want to be ultra-cautious

given that cases are low in

Britain but starting to rise.

Is this linked to outbreaks

in Europe? Medical advisers

say not, insisting that they

are making the change

because there is a need to

be more careful as people

are allowed to mix more.

However, they acknowledge

that they are chastened by

seeing from other European

countries how quickly the

epidemic can flare up again.

What do other countries

advise on isolation? The

World Health Organisation

recently introduced

guidance saying people

should isolate for at least

ten days, and 13 days if they

have symptoms. Countries

such as the United States,

Australia, Switzerland and

Norway have recently

adopted a ten-day rule.

How does this affect

quarantine for

international travellers? It

doesn’t. That remains at 14

days. Ministers are looking

at ways of using a test to

free people more quickly,

but stopping cases getting

in is being prioritised over

convenience for travellers.