Vallance and Whitty spoke reasonably and sincerely in their press conference. But their data was selective, and they seem determined to cause alarm Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Mon 21 Sep 2020 14.44 BSTLast modified on Mon 21 Sep 2020 18.51 BST Sir Patrick Vallance (left) and Chris Whitty ‘Sir Patrick Vallance (left) and Chris Whitty did not take questions on their alarming thesis or indicate how it should affect government policy.’ Composite: UK Parliament Thank goodness for scientists talking about coronavirus rather than politicians. They speak English and sound sincere. Today’s presentation by Whitehall’s Sir Patrick Vallance and Chris Whitty was devoid of slogan and cliche. They just wanted to say that the virus was back, Covid-19 numbers were rising and we all should be worried. So far so reasonable.