I will be live tweeting a 5-year-old @TEDTalks given by American business tycoon, philanthropist and @Microsoft co-founder, @BillGates. “The next outbreak? We’re not ready.” Which eerily relates directly to the #COVIDー19 pandemic the world is facing today. #mc1313gdm

A green emergency war kit is rolled on stage and Gates reflects on why his fears have shifted from fear of war, to fear of germs. “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it’s most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war.” #mc1313gdm

Huge amounts of money have been invested in national security from nations worldwide, however very little has been invested into systems that are set up to prevent and stop an epidemic; This lack of preparation can be detrimental to the future of mankind. #mc1313gdm

A graphic model is pulled up which depicts how a virus, similar to the 1918 Spanish flu, would affect the world today. The model eventually lights up red indicating the eventual death of “30 million people [who] died from the pandemic.” #mc1313gdm *models shown below*

The World Bank has previously estimated that a global flu-like epidemic similar to the Spanish flu would set global wealth back by over “3 trillion dollars” in turn creating millions of debts for people around the globe. #mc1313gdm

“There's no need to panic,” Gates said in closing. “But we need to get going, because time is not on our side.” In hindsight, this seems to be a warning that was not taken seriously enough to prevent the #COVIDー19 epidemic being faced today. #mc1313gdm

Interested in hearing more from this TED Talk? Then check out Bill Gates’ “The next outbreak? We’re not ready.” On @YouTube with this link: #mc1313gdm

I made a wakelet about this thread, check it out here: https://wke.lt/w/s/wyy0gB