UK deputy medical chief Van-Tam to step down in March

LONDON (AP) — England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam, one of the scientists who led the U.K.’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, will leave his role in March. Van-Tam became a household name for his frequent appearances at the government’s televised COVID-19 news briefings. He gained popularity with his engaging soccer analogies that helped explain the coronavirus to the public. He has been on secondment to the Health Department from the University of Nottingham since 2017, and from the end of March he will return to the institution to take up a new academic role. Health Secretary Sajid Javid praised his knack for communicating science to the public and called him a “national treasure.”