Creating Clippy, the late virtual assistant who fronted Microsoft Windows, is a hard task to top. Yet, Bill Gates outdid himself during the pandemic, evolving into a public health expert and donor. Last weekend, the Nerdstradamus even weighed in on bar and restaurant closures… and the web wasn’t happy.
Appearing on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’, Gates posited that the hospitality industry should tay shuttered well into 2021. “Bars and restaurants—in most of the country—will be closed as we go into this wave, and I think, sadly, that’s appropriate,” Gates told host Jake Tapper.
Several states including New York and California enacted lockdowns on bars and indoor dining this week. The CDC previously classified bars as the highest risk level for spreading the deadly virus.
The tech titan-turned-philanthropist explained that he believes the hospitality industry is just one facet of a coming surge. Despite this week’s vaccine rollout, Gates theorized the COVID will continue to surge for the immediate future.
“The next four to six months could be the worst of the epidemic,” Gates posited. “If we would follow the rules in terms of wearing masks and not mixing, we could avoid a large percentage of these deaths. In the near term, it’s bad news.”
After retiring from Microsoft, the founder and his wife created the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The non-profit boasts a large focus on public health and pandemics, including $100 million in funding towards the development of a COVID vaccine. Consequently, Gates (who actively has been warning of pandemic dangers for years) enjoyed a media renaissance weighing in on the coronavirus throughout 2020.
Gates’ cautions about the pandemic were accompanied by backlash from right wing media. The recent comments about bar & restaurant lockdowns were no different.
Several b-list GOP politicians took to social to vent their discontent with his comments.
