evidence: A long letter attributed to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has gone viral on social media platforms, where the billionaire has purportedly claimed that novel coronavirus has a "spiritual purpose" and is "a great corrector". [...] On March 25, 2020, Gates participated in a TED Talk where he spoke about how we should face the pandemic, but nowhere did he say that coronavirus has a "spiritual purpose". [...] Even in this article, he has not claimed that novel coronavirus has a "spiritual purpose".