Bill Gates says he's 'afraid' of some states reopening too quickly

As some states look to begin reopening their economies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Bill Gates is concerned about moving "too quickly" and warning that a return to normal is still far down the road.

Gates, whose foundation is putting billions of dollars toward the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, spoke to Today on Friday morning, and asked for his thoughts on certain states like Georgia planning to reopen some nonessential businesses, the Microsoft co-founder expressed trepidation.

"We know that if you go fully back to normal mixing, that then you get onto that exponential growth curve," Gates said. "You know, I am afraid we'll have some people and some states that move too quickly and have to back off."

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Gates also told Today that "I wish I could say that we're halfway through" the coronavirus crisis, but "I don't think" that's the case, and "it's going to be a while before things go back to normal."

President Trump has said he doesn't support Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp's (R) reopening plan, and recent polls have consistently shown most Americans are concerned about stay-at-home orders lifting too soon; in an ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Friday, 72 percent of respondents said moving too quickly to loosen restrictions is a greater threat than moving too slowly.

Gates on Thursday stressed the importance of expanding testing before reopening, writing, "To reopen the economy, we need to be testing enough people that we can quickly detect emerging hotspots and intervene early. We don't want to wait until the hospitals start to fill up and more people die." Brendan Morrow