Coronavirus cases could be on the way down within six to ten weeks of countries taking shut-down precautions and instituting testing procedures, says Bill Gates (pictured), who led the fight to eradicate polio and has pledged $100 million to tackle the coronavirus.

Asked during  a Reddit Q&A session Gates how long the coronavirus crisis would go on, Gates replied: “This will vary a lot by country. China is seeing very few cases now because their testing and shut down was very effective. If a country does a good job with testing and shut down then within 6-10 weeks they should see very few cases and be able to open back up.”

Asked about concerns that when social restrictions are lifted the virus will return, Gates said that had not happened in China.

“They did their shut down and were able to reduce the number of cases,” said Gates, “they are testing widely so they see rebounds immediately and so far there have not been a lot. They avoided widespread infection.”