Scientist's family threatened with death during pandemic.

Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam has revealed some of the extreme hate he received during the pandemic. He said that some of the messages even included threats to his family, such as "having their throats cut". This caused the police to get involved and made him consider stepping down from his role as England's deputy chief medical officer.

Sir Jonathan spoke to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry on Wednesday and described the experience as "stressful". He had not expected that his family would be threatened when he accepted the job. He also said that this could be a deterrent to people taking on similar roles in the future, as the implications can be severe.

Sir Jonathan went on to talk about his workload during the early days of the pandemic, saying that it was "very, very intense" and that he was working 16 hour days, 7 days a week. His colleague, England's Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, also spoke about the abuse experienced by scientists involved in the response to Covid-19, describing it as "extremely concerning".

Unfortunately, this type of abuse is not uncommon. Last year, a man was even jailed for eight weeks after he approached Sir Chris with the intention of causing him distress. It is clear that these people are doing essential work, and it is unfortunate that they have to face such threats and hostility.

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