Bill Gates on the coronavirus and social distancing

It’s very tough to say to people, "Hey keep going to restaurants, go buy new houses, ignore that pile of bodies over in the corner, we want you to keep spending because there’s some politician that thinks GDP growth is what counts." It’s hard to tell people during an epidemic … that they should go about things knowing their activity is spreading this disease.

~ Bill Gates, TED Connects program, March 24, 2020

(Gates has a reported net worth of $99 billion.)