“Commed your leadership’’: Bill Gates praises PM Modi for tackling COVID-19 crisis

Ritu yadav.
Microsoft founder, billionaire and a philanthropist Bill Gates wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday to commend his “leadership and proactive measures” to flatten the COVID-19 curve in India.
According to an NDTV report, Bill Gates praised the Indian government for “utilizing its exceptional digital capabilities”, such as launching the Aarogya Setu app for COVID-19 tracking, contact tracing, and to connect people to health services.
“We commend your leadership and the proactive measures you and your government have taken to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 infection rate in India, such as adopting a national lockdown, expanding focused testing to identify hot spots for isolation, quarantining, and care, and significantly increasing health expenditures to strengthen the health system response and promote R&D and digital innovation,” reads the letter.
“I’m glad your government is fully utilizing its exceptional digital capabilities in its COVID-19 response and has launched the Aarogya Setu digital app for coronavirus tracking, contact tracing, and to connect people to health services,” the Microsoft co-founder added.
“Grateful to see that you’re seeking to balance public health imperatives with the need to ensure adequate social protection for all Indians,” the letter further said.
The statement from the philanthropist billionaire comes at a time when the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 686 and the number of cases climbed to 20,700 in the country.
In another development, Bill Gates had announced that his foundation is paying for the construction of facilities that will manufacture seven promising coronavirus vaccines and the best two vaccines would be picked up for final trials.
Bill Gates had presented the Goalkeepers Global Goals Award to PM Modi, last year for his government’s Swachh Bharat programme on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York city.