Trump picks Covid lockdown critic to lead top health agency

US President-elect Donald Trump has picked a leading Covid lockdown sceptic Jay Bhattacharya to be the next director of a key US public health agency.

Trump said he had selected the Stanford University-trained physician and economist to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s biggest government-funded biomedical research entity.

Bhattacharya became the face during the pandemic of a fiercely disputed open letter - known as the Great Barrington Declaration - that opposed widespread lockdowns.

Tuesday's nomination rounds out Trump’s top public health team. He has already unveiled all 15 posts for his cabinet as he prepares to take office on 20 January.