It's too soon to be talking about whether China deserves blame for the coronavirus outbreak and efforts to shift the focus onto Beijing are a 'distraction,' according to Bill Gates, who criticized 'incorrect and unfair things' said about the Communist-run country.

'China did a lot of things right at the beginning, like any country where a virus first shows up,' the Microsoft co-founder told CNN on Sunday.

'They can look back and say where they missed some things.'

Gates, one of the world's richest men, said that the US handled its COVID-19 response 'particularly poorly' compared to other countries that have minimized the economic damage.