Covid-19 is the unseen enemy. It knows no borders. It cares nothing about skin colour, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sex or religion. It has claimed the lives of many and stolen the livelihoods of even more. It has fed on our inadequacies, highlighted our vulnerabilities and tested our resilience. This novel coronavirus has rocked our entire world.
But it hasn’t broken our spirit. What has isolated us temporarily has bonded us forever. From those who stay home to the healthcare warriors on the frontline, the essential workers who keep plugging on despite the risk and the philanthropic powers from around the globe, we’re all in this together. And, as Queen Elizabeth II said, when we succeed “that success will belong to every one of us”.
Unfortunately, this success won’t come easy. But if there was ever a person more prepared to take on COVID-19, that person would be Bill Gates. His foundation has studied pandemic risks closely, and for years now, he’s warned of their potential detriment to our society at large.
In 2015, Gates gave a TED talk explaining how the world was ill-prepared for the next outbreak, citing how we made it through the Ebola crisis in 2014 thanks to selfless healthcare workers and – more importantly – a stroke of good luck. Next time, he prophesied, we wouldn’t be so fortunate.
Well, “next time” is here. And, boy did he nail it. COVID-19 found us woefully unprepared. On top of mounting death tolls, economic concerns are vast and growing. But, with his trademark optimism, Gates says it’s still not too late, and the window for making important decisions hasn’t yet closed.
This story is from the July 2020 edition of The CEO Magazine Asia.
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This story is from the July 2020 edition of The CEO Magazine Asia.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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