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‘We’re Not Ready’: Lessons About Preparing For A Pandemic

A nurse dressed in personal protective equipment prepares to give a coronavirus swab test at a drive-thru testing station in Stamford, Connecticut.
A nurse dressed in personal protective equipment prepares to give a coronavirus swab test at a drive-thru testing station in Stamford, Connecticut.

After the Ebola outbreak killed over 11,300 people in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates took to the TED stage to talk about preparing for the next outbreak.

His message: We’re not ready.

That was 2015. Now, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, many are saying we didn’t heed Gates’ warning.

Could we have anticipated the spread of COVID-19? And how could we have better prepared?

This TED Talk was given at TED2015 and used with permission. For more talks in audio, subscribe to TED Talks Daily wherever you get your podcasts.

 

 

 

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Kaity Kline
Kaity Kline is an Assistant Producer at Morning Edition and Up First. She started at NPR in 2019 as a Here & Now intern and has worked at nearly every NPR news magazine show since.