Bill Gates, the billionaire who founded Microsoft and, along with his wife, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, just called for a complete and utter shutdown and quarantining of the entire American nation, saying the spottiness of some states doing it and some states not has put all in coronavirus jeopardy.

This — from the guy who’s poised to make some cool millions in the market chaos of recent weeks.

This — from the guy who practically controls policy at the World Health Organization.

“Despite urging from public health experts,” Gates wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece, “some states and counties haven’t shut down completely. In some states, beaches are still open; in others, restaurants still serve sit-down meals. This is a recipe for disaster. Because people can travel freely across state lines, so can the virus. The country’s leaders need to be clear: Shutdown anywhere means shutdown everywhere. Until the case numbers start to go down across America — which could take 10 weeks or more — no one can continue business as usual or relax the shutdown.”

He then added that the impacts of the new coronavirus could linger another 18 months or so, until a vaccine was developed. Question: So, too, his proposed shutdown?