Wednesday 23 December 2020

Coronavirus diary, Wednesday 23 December


Centre stage: England's CMO, Chris Whitty

They are, without doubt, brilliant men and women, dedicated to their profession - the scientists and modellers, the academics, but when the pandemic is over I shall be happy not to hear from them for a long time.

For almost a year they have been centre stage in the coronavirus drama. Not a day has passed without their advice, forecasts and dictums.

They have been daily on television and radio and have stood behind lecterns with their graphs beside Boris Johnson and ministers at hundreds of briefings

They have not always been reassuring, especially when, inevitably, presenting ‘worst case scenarios', and forecasting horrific death tolls.

Most have never encountered such a situation before but they ooze knowledge and confidence, enough to convince and frequently frighten us.

Yes, they have been useful and sometimes comforting  and we will never forget the heroics that produced the vaccines but I shall be happy to see them return to their day jobs, to their laboratories and offices, to calm academia. 

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