According to Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates, the coronavirus pandemic could be compared to the Second World War in terms of the scale of destruction. He called on the governments of several countries to prepare for the next epidemic, allocating enormous amounts of money for scientific research.

The billionaire is confident that "the world needs to spend billions to save trillions" of lives and prevent millions of deaths. He estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic would cost the world $28 trillion. Bill Gates outlined that the heads of states must be ready to spring into action and double their investments in research and development. More specifically, he called for higher investments in such organizations that have proven effective in combating the coronavirus infection, for example, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

"To prevent the hardship of this last year from happening again, pandemic preparedness must be taken as seriously as we take the threat of war," Gates said. Besides, he added that the COVID-19 pandemic would determine the future of our planet, saying that "everything depends on whether the world comes together to ensure that the lifesaving science developed in 2020 saves as many lives as possible in 2021."

The co-founder of Microsoft believes that one of the main concerns is the threat of "immunity inequality". This suggests that developed countries have more chances to provide their citizens with high-quality treatment. "In a world where global health is local, that should concern all of us," Gates stressed.

History would probably remember the next couple of months as "the most painful point of the entire pandemic", the head of Microsoft noted. Nevertheless, he is pinning all his hopes on the new methods of treatment and vaccines against COVID-19. Bill Gates believes that the use of new diagnostic platforms will bring about a radical change in the coronavirus situation.