Bill Gates thinks the U.S. could begin to re-open the economy at the end of May, he said in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick. Before a vaccine is available, he said, countries that have had considerable epidemics must figure out which activities should come back. He suggested that people could probably return to manufacturing and construction jobs, and hopefully education.
“I don’t think going to big, say, public sports-type events, that the economic benefit relative to the risks, that will work out until we’re back in normal times,” he said.
Gates pointed to businesses in China coming back to life and activity returning in South Korea, one of the first countries to face a surge of coronavirus cases. He also suggested the economy would not magically revert to the way it was before the pandemic, even once governments decide it’s safe to go back to work.
