Not sure that this is a realistic comparison by Mr Gates. It’s apples and oranges.
The difference in the spread of the virus in China as opposed to the spread in the US - is the quick and complete handling of the crisis in China once it was realized what was happening. It was a full and complete shut down, not piece meal. Everything at the epicenter of Wuhan province was completely & immediately closed from businesses and schools to public transit and Lunar New Years social gatherings. The full closure of the country came very quickly after that. The World Health Organization had the highest praise for how things were done - holding them up as a model to be emulated.
A lack of national leadership combined with a State by State handling of this crisis in often times slow and incomplete responses and a scary lack of resources could mean a very different outcome in terms of timeline and length. There are still those who hold the power who believe that this is a gross over reaction.. just last night one State Governor overturned the counties in his state who had enacted their own shelter in place or social distancing requirements. Not helpful and from what we know works - it’s ill advised.
Strong clear limits hopefully in the short term is what will get things returning to normal quicker.. what the new normal is remains to be seen.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
The US has now passed the cases in Spain, is less then 500 cases from those in Italy.. and at this rate will surpass China in the next few days.
A frightening reality check