Nicola Woolcock, education correspondent, The Times 3 April

In an article he wrote for The Lancet last year the language of Public Health England’s director of health improvement seems oddly prescient.

“At a time of crisis”, John Newton wrote, “there is pressure to act, but at such a time, it is especially important that any action is informed by rational assessment of the relevant scientific evidence.”

The paper was on vaping-associated respiratory illnesses in the US but it seems likely Whitehall will be hoping he applies the logic to the present crisis after he was put in charge of testing.

Professor Newton was appointed director of health improvement in 2012. He is honorary professor of public health and epidemiology at Manchester and Exeter universities. As well as being an academic epidemiologist in the University of Oxford, he has been director of research and development in two large teaching hospitals.

He was also the first director and chief executive of UK Biobank, which holds biological samples for use in research, and the regional director of public health for NHS South Central.

Professor Newton has led England’s contribution to the Global Burden of Disease project and been chairman of the WHO European Burden of Disease Network.

In a recent blog he set out priorities that he wanted to tackle. These include the reduction in variation in smoking prevalence between rich and poor, anti-obesity initiatives, improving air quality and ensuring mental health has parity with physical health.

He said: “Tackling regional inequality is a vitally important task but we also see differences in health linked to disability, gender, race, age, sexuality or religion or amongst members of the most vulnerable or marginalised groups in society from homeless people and sex workers to people in prison.”