The hour is coming, Chris Whitty is coming.
The quietly spoken, extremely qualified scientist has become the face of the government’s fight against the corona virus.
In the process, he has become a social media hero for his straightforward versions for the camera.
Avoiding confusing medical jargon, the 53-year-old graduate in Oxford is very clear in his messages – admit that there will be ‘many more’ cases and this would give the NHS ‘very high pressure’.
The over-80s, as he put it, should not believe that they were all “goners,” even though the corona virus is the most deadly in the elderly.
Hundreds of Britons watching his no-nonsense appearances on live TV greeted his attitude, called him the new James Bond and asked if he was in charge of the Brexit negotiations and revealed that they would trust him with their lives.
Leading media commentators also praised Professor Whitty, who spent his youth in Nigeria, for giving a “master class in sobriety” while addressing the House of Commons amid growing panic in the UK.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Christ Whitty, has become an unlikely social media star leading the fight against the corona virus
The British praised the unlikely hero for his refreshing no-nonsense approach to the escalating situation in the UK. Those who watched his straight-talking performances in front of the camera praised his attitude and called him the new James Bond and Lady Hale
Professor Whitty, 53, has been in the role of England’s best doctor for only five months, but has been put in the spotlight to inform panic-stricken British about coronavirus risk.
While Dame Sally was labeled as the ‘babysitter’ for her call to ban food on public transport, colleagues across the board praised Professor Whitty as being ‘calm and collected’.
During the coronavirus crisis, number 10 has been accused of secrecy by refusing to provide clear, concise updates. And the Ministry of Health and Social Care was criticized for “no longer tweeting information about the location of each new case.”
Professor Whitty’s direct approach, on the other hand, has been praised by ordinary Britons. He was described by a user on Twitter as the “voice of calm and reason in the coronavirus hysteria,” while another said they would “trust him with my life.”
On Tuesday, Professor Whitty was praised for telling British to “think” whether it would be wise to travel abroad to countries with health services that are weaker than the NHS.
He has warned smokers that it is a good time to make it a habit – because those who are less healthy are more vulnerable to coronavirus – and that face masks are probably not as effective.
The scientist and ‘modern medic’ have given hope that the UK outbreak will be controlled, as supermarkets and pharmacies see chaotic customers building in the event of a worst-case scenario.
Calls have even been made to replace Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take charge of the Brexit negotiations following his impressive announcement.
Yesterday, professor Whitty Boris Johnson, who grew up in Nigeria, flanked when the prime minister announced the government’s drastic “combat plan,” allowing troops to be deployed on the streets if the corona virus were to settle in the UK.
He later answered questions from the Commons Health Commission about the outbreak of coronavirus for 90 minutes.
“No notes, no vast environment,” noted MailOnline columnist Henry Deedes.
‘He did not want a supplement from Highland Spring so much, but he gave a master class in sobriety and straightforward speaking.
‘His appearance is also mildly disturbing. He has mad scientist hair and poached egg eyes that protrude troublingly. But his ability to speak clearly and directly was strangely calming. “
Quentin Letts, a political sketch writer for The times, Praised Professor Whitty for speaking in a ‘level, relatable way’.
‘The over-80s, as he put it, should not believe that they were all’ goners’. Death by coronavirus was very, very unlikely.
“The hour is coming, the gentle Englishman, the most unlikely of the heroes, is to stand up to wailing Jeremiah and bring us to safety.”
Mr. Letts said that Professor Whitty was “the kind of doctor you would want for your prostate checkup.”
Professor Chris Whitty was little known outside of medical circles prior to his appointment as top doctor of England. But now Oxford University graduate has become a favorite to lead the nation
John Crace is The Guardians parliamentary sketch writer, Professor Whitty’s words said “flow with liquid intelligence.”
He added, “There is no one who would rather listen to Whitty for a few minutes than half an hour from Boris’ bullshit.”
“The geeks inherited the earth. And the Geek-in-Chief, who now regards everyone as the country’s actual prime minister, is Chris Whitty, England’s most important medical officer.
“His command of his subject and his ability to communicate that knowledge is almost complete.
“There was something undeniably refreshing about his honesty and directness. Here was a man who was willing to treat the country as adults and did not feel the need to lie about the seriousness of the situation. “
Bryony Gordon said she hoped Professor Whitty would be recognized for his work by getting a place on Strictly Come Dancing
Professor Chris Whitty, who was born in a quiet Surrey village, Limpsfield, but spent most of his childhood in Nigeria, was little known outside of medical circles prior to his appointment as England’s best doctor.
But now Oxford University graduate, who has spent decades researching Ebola, AIDS and even the plague, has become a favorite to lead Britain.
A man said on Twitter: “This guy from Chris Whitty is good. Clear, authoritative, focused, objective. Put the government in stark contrast. “
Another wrote: “Cancel the Prime Minister. Let it be Chris Whitty. We need level heads, not blonde idiots. “
Professor Robin Grimes, the former chief scientist at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was supervised by Professor Whitty when he joined.
He told MailOnline: ‘At the time, Chris was the chief scientist in DfID [Department for International Development]. He was a very helpful and patient teacher.
“His calm and thoughtful approach to explaining what the evidence says and does not come across just as strongly in the current circumstances.”
Professor Simon Wessely, president of psychological medicine at Kings College London, added that Whitty was “made for the position” as chief medical adviser.
He added that he is “calm, collected, courteous, confident, and smart.”
Before he was appointed as the oldest medical adviser to the government in England, Professor Whitty was the principal scientific adviser at the Ministry of Health and Social Care.
And between 2009 and 2015, he held the same position at the Department for International Development.
Before that, he taught at the University of Malawi and returned to the UK in 2005 to teach and play a role as a consultant physician at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Professor Whitty does not shy away from alarming reports about the extent of the outbreak while speaking with facts that have impressed Britons
The poached egg professor was soothing: HENRY DEEDES observes Chris Whitty, the very cool hombre charged with beating the corona virus
They say that scary times require permanent heads. Fortunately, professor Chris Whitty is a very cool hombre.
Yesterday, 90 minutes, the Chief Medical Officer of England answered questions from the Commons health committee about the corona virus outbreak. No notes, no expansive environment.
He did not really need a tumbler from Highland Spring, because he gave a master class in sobriety and straightforward speaking. We don’t see any officials like Professor Whitty in the committee rooms these days. They usually twist, hide and speak horribly jargon, with words such as ‘continuing education’ or constantly refer to matters that go ‘forwards’.
The Prof, on the other hand, has not paused, hesitated or even deviated a second. The man would be a demon on Radio A’s Just A Minute.
Part of what Whitty had to say was unquestionably grim. Approximately 600,000 people in the UK can die from the virus.
His appearance is also mildly disturbing. He has mad scientist hair and poached egg eyes that protrude troublingly. But his ability to speak clearly and directly was strangely calming. Indeed, it reminded me of Ian McDonald, the Ministry of Defense deadpan official with the specifications of Ronnie Corbett, whose daily messages during the Falklands war viewers were equally reassuring.
Prof. Chris Whitty (photo) gave evidence to the Health Select committee and said, “I expect the number will only increase.” Henry Deedes says the Prof is a ‘weird cool hombre’
Prof. Whitty warned that “community transmission” was taking place in the UK, and the government’s focus had disappeared from the “contain” phase to focus on efforts to “slow down” spread
Whitty arrived at the Thatcher Room at Portcullis House at 9 am, where he was greeted by committee chairman Jeremy Hunt.
Someone politely commented that he must be exhausted in view of recent events. Whitty replied with a non-plussed shrug.
Hunt and his team wisely allowed their guest to speak a lot. Committees usually have a snappy character when members play in front of the cameras, but yesterday they listened attentively to a man who was completely on top of his assignment.
Coronavirus is here, Whitty explained. It lives among us and the hope of inclusion is over.
We have entered the phase of postponing the spread as long as possible until a vaccine is found that is probably more than a year away.
What we heard were the disaster movies, that crucial moment when the president ordered his Joint Chiefs to move the Defcon alarm status to three (out of five).
Nevertheless, Whitty managed to convey his views as coolly as the calming crackle of the captain’s voice when an airplane enters into severe turbulence.
A lazily worded statement in situations such as this can cause major panic and massive looting in the main street. But every answer he gave was made more carefully than a Faberge egg.
Every now and then a small hedge was inserted, such as ‘there is a’ but ‘in’ or ‘that can change but that is my current opinion’.
He rejected all panic measures. Closing schools, he said, was pointless for the time being. He also saw no reason to dissolve the Parliament. (Was that a slight odor of disappointment that I discovered in the committee when he said that?)
As for storing food, it just didn’t make sense. Dealing with this virus, he said, would be a “marathon, not a sprint.”
Someone has raised the issue of handshaking. “If someone coughs for you, whether or not there is coronavirus, I would advise you not to take that hand,” he said with a smile.
At that moment the committee broke into grin because Whitty himself had a cough belly. Hand rubbing, he repeated, was the key to avoidance.
Oh, and that disgusting hand that everyone uses? There is apparently nothing like old-fashioned soap and water.
Labour’s Taiwo Owatemi (Coventry NW) asked about pregnant women. “Pregnant women don’t have to worry,” Whitty commented with a dismissive gesture. Laura Trott (Con, Sevenoaks) wondered about smokers. “Well, now is a good time to give up,” the Prof advised dryly.
In the meantime, the committee had calmed down, as if patients who discovered that their prognosis was not as grim as they had feared and needed nothing more than a day of rest and a generous amount of whiskey. But then they had witnessed a performance that was so reassuring without hysteria. Knee-jerk nanny syndrome in reverse order.
A timely reminder, if necessary, that science must fight against this potential pandemic, not politics.
Today, coronavirus cases have tipped 101,000. More than 3,450 people died
The calm, assembled scientist leading the UK fight against the corona virus: the new chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty grew up a bullying expert in Nigeria whose life as a teenager had scars when his father was shot dead
He has only worked for five months, but now he has been put in the spotlight as he leads Britain’s fight against the murderous corona virus.
Professor Chris Whitty, who was born in a quiet Surrey village but spent most of his childhood in Nigeria, was little known outside of medical circles prior to his appointment as England’s best doctor.
But as the fear of a coronavirus crisis has grown, his quiet, thoughtful updates have impressed. Some people have even called for the 53-year-old chief medical officer to take over the Prime Minister’s outbreaks.
Britons praised Oxford University graduate for his no-nonsense approach, where he would admit on live TV yesterday that there would be many more things in the UK.
Professor Whitty, who has spent decades researching Ebola, AIDS and even the plague, today assured a parliamentary committee for parliamentarians of all stripes that the elderly are not necessarily a “goner” if they become infected.
And on Tuesday, he was praised for telling the British to “think” whether it would be wise to travel abroad to countries with health services that are weaker than the NHS.
Earlier that day, Professor Whitty Boris Johnson flanked, while the Prime Minister announced the government’s drastic “battle plan,” which would allow troops to be deployed on the streets if the outbreak occurred in the UK.
While Dame Sally was branded as the “babysitter” for her call to ban eating in public transportation, Professor Whitty is praised by colleagues across the board for being “calm” and “collected.”
England’s leading medical officer, Chris Whitty, who has only been working for five months, has been catapulted into public consciousness as a result of the corona virus outbreak
Professor Whitty, the youngest of four boys, spent much of his childhood in Northern Nigeria after he was born in Limpsfield, 11 miles (18 km) south of Croydon.
As a teenager in 1984 he tragically lost his father – who worked for the British Council – when he was shot three times while driving in Athens.
The New York Times reported at the time that his 44-year-old father, Kenneth, was shot by a shooter at an intersection who asked him to roll down his window.
After completing his studies at Pembroke College in Oxford, Professor Whitty worked as a physician throughout Africa and Asia, where he treated malaria patients and at the same time published a wide range of academic publications.
The hard-working medic somehow also found time to study for an Open University degree in Economics and earned an MBA from Heriott-Watt University.
Eyebrows were raised by the security service when he first joined the government, as the most important scientific advisor to the Department for International Development in 2009.
On Wednesday, the medical chief said on live TV that there would be “much more” coronavirus in the UK and that deaths should be expected
Allegedly the head of the intelligence service asked why he was not married. But his phenomenal work output would certainly have left little room for family life.
As a researcher, Professor Whitty received $ 40 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for research into malaria.
According to the academic search engine Microsoft Scholar, the professor is named as the author of more than 200 scientific articles.
Topics range from the overdose of malaria in Tanzania, the use of steroids to treat sub-Saharan meningitis, and the death rate for mothers undergoing C-sections in Malawi.
While treating AIDS victims in Malawi, Professor Whitty began to gain a reputation by saying what he regards as uncomfortable truths.
In a 1999 academic article, he said that public health “is not a branch of morality” and that “following a strict moral line can sometimes be very effective.”
Whitty’s straightforward approach was praised by ordinary British people who took the opportunity to resign to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the government
He wrote that doctors must make a “sharp distinction” between stigmatizing a behavioral pattern – which is “often justifiable” and stigmatizing a person with a medical problem.
And Professor Whitty added that any doctor who claims that “stigma” should never be used to try to “back up a public health message” is “deeply naive.”
During the coronavirus crisis, number 10 was accused of lack of transparency by refusing to provide clear, concise updates.
And the Ministry of Health and Social Care was criticized for “no longer tweeting information about the location of each new case.”
Professor Whitty’s honest approach, on the other hand, was praised by ordinary British people who took the opportunity to accept Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the government.
A man said on Twitter: “This guy from Chris Whitty is good. Clear, authoritative, focused, objective. Put the government in stark contrast. “
Another wrote: “Cancel the Prime Minister. Let it be Chris Whitty. We need level heads, not blonde idiots. “
On Wednesday, the chief medical officer said on live TV that there would be “much more” coronavirus in the UK and that deaths would be expected.
He then told Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid at Good Morning Britain that the country is likely to end up in the grip of a “significant epidemic.”
And he warned Britons that it makes no sense to wear masks because they have no “significant effect” in protecting against the virus, he said.
And today, Professor Whitty hinted that there might not be enough room in mortuaries to cope with the deaths, and he also warned that Britain has gone into a “delay phase” in tackling the virus.
Professor Whitty’s colleagues also quickly praised their fellow medicine and described him as “patient,” “courteous,” “self-assured,” and “smart.”
Professor Robin Grimes, the former chief scientist at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was supervised by Professor Whitty when he joined.
He told MailOnline: ‘At the time, Chris was the chief scientist in DfID. He was a very helpful and patient teacher.
“His calm and thoughtful approach to explaining what the evidence says and does not come across just as strongly in the current circumstances.”
Professor Simon Wessely, president of psychological medicine at Kings College London, added that Whitty was “made for the position” as chief medical adviser.
He added that he is “calm, collected, courteous, confident, and smart.”
Before he was appointed as the oldest medical adviser to the government in England, Professor Whitty was the principal scientific adviser at the Ministry of Health and Social Care.
And between 2009 and 2015, he held the same position at the Department for International Development.
Before that, he taught at the University of Malawi and returned to the UK in 2005 to teach and play a role as a consultant physician at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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