The Van-Tam Covid show is ‘over’ but far from over | Politics



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IIf there was any doubt about Professor Jonathan Van-Tam’s status as the main light of government briefings on the coronavirus, he cemented it on Friday night, causing bewilderment and delight by repeatedly ending his responses with the word “finished.” .

Perhaps inspired by his tenuous depiction of the country as being on a “glide path” toward a vaccine at risk of “sidewinds,” Van-Tam marked his first coronavirus report of self-isolation “due to family contact” with a nod to the language of the pilots. In responses instantly aimed at a million super-cuts, England’s deputy chief medical officer said “over and over” but crucially avoided the rookie mistake of adding “and off.”

Van-Tam did not offer any warning or explanation for his eccentric phrasing, but was presumably intended to provide a signal to Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock and NHS England Medical Director Professor Stephen Powis that they could speak confidently without interrupting. They did not respond in the same way.

Past press conferences, business meetings, Zoom calls, and phone conversations conducted during the pandemic, as well as before, have largely been navigated without using the phrase, which is generally associated with two-way radio conversations. in war movies. On the other hand, it is substantially less annoying to viewers of the briefing than the “stop silencing” refrain directed by ministers to panicked journalists.

Van-Tam’s appearance was also marked by his backdrop of Boston United soccer programs. He previously wore the club tie on the government podium, to the delight of the club, and described himself as a “devoted compost holder,” a clip that turned into an obscure meme.

Meanwhile, your use of the glide path image is not your first contact with strained analogies. Among other moments of impromptu imagery, he has compared aspects of the pandemic to a swallow, to the first successful penalty at the end of a play-off final, and to waiting for a train on a wet and windy night and seeing two lights appear. on the tracks 2 miles away, but then he noticed he slowed down and finally got there only for the doors not to open. Finished.



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