People magazine has named USA’s top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci as one of its ‘2020 People of the Year’. Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a leading member of the White House’s coronavirus task force.

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Along with Fauci, actor George Clooney, Regina King and pop singer Selena Gomez, also featured in the list, released on Wednesday.

The ‘People of the Year’ issue “celebrates four individuals (with four covers!) who have not just wowed us with their talent but been forces for good in the world,” the magazine said.

“Dr Anthony Fauci stepped up to be the doctor America needed in 2020,” the People magazine stated. And, although he and his family were getting death threats, “he continued to be out front,” it added.

The magazine hailed him for his “devoted public service, unflappable common sense, and life-saving leadership.”