‘King of Covid’ Norman Swan weds for a third time

A controversial doctor turned reporter who made big calls during Covid has got married on an idyllic island.

An ABC journalist, whose controversial pronouncements on Covid-19 raised eyebrows, has married for a third time.

Dr Norman Swan, 70, presents The Health Report for ABC Radio National and was a prominant voice during the pandemic.

Last week he wed ABC radio producer Kate Hamann, 46, on the Greek island of Hydra.

Fellow ABC presenter Phillip Adams revealed the nuptials on Twitter.

“The good Dr Swan – aka the King of Covid – persuaded me to join Late Night Live 33 years ago,” Mr Adams wrote on the social media site on Wednesday night.

“Congrats on your marriage Norman”.

Dr Norman Swan has married for a third time.

Dr Swan look relaxed in a beige suit and white shirt with no tie, befitting the warm climate.

Ms Hamann, who has also worked as a journalist for public broadcasters in Britain and Canada, wore a sleek, modern white dress.

“It’s mildly embarrassing to have been married (and divorced) twice,” Dr Swan told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2022.

“I’ve heard men complain about the women in their lives as the reason they’ve been married more than once, when 50 per cent or more of the reason is us, the men.”

Norman Swan weds ABC radio producer Kate Hamann on the Greek island of Hyrda. Picture: Twitter/X.

The former GP was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2023 for “significant service to the broadcast media as a science and health commentator”.

Dr Swan was a regular source of advice for Australians during the pandemic with many warming to his advocacy of strong measures to combat Covid.

But he riled others with his tough stance.

He stoked controversy in 2021 when he took a video of traffic in Sydney with the caption “locked down Sydney”.

It wasn’t clear what his point was, but many presumed that he was suggesting too many people were out and about rather than behind closed doors at home.

The roads were not closed during lockdowns, however, and the short clip may have pictured essential workers driving to and from work. People also may have been more reluctant to take public transport during the lockdowns and so switched to driving.

Traffic data showed a huge decline in traffic in the city during lockdowns.

Before Christmas in 2023, amid a rise in Covid cases, Dr Swan appeared on Channel 10’s The Project advising how people could avoid contracting or passing on the disease.

“Stay outdoors, don’t go indoors to stuffy environments, wear masks to protect yourself, and if you’ve got symptoms like a runny nose or a cough, stay away from your relatives,” he said, joking, “It gives you a good excuse not to go to a boring party.”

But 2GB host Chris O’Keefe wasn’t impressed.

“Can someone please tell my mate Dr Norman Swan, just to beat it,” he said.

“Just beat it, honestly. Hey Norman, we’re over the Covid scaremongering, please, and we’ve been over it for years.”

Norman Swan has been a sometimes controversial figure.

In 2022, Dr Swan was forced to apologise after claims about Covid-19 and the deaths of cricket icon Shane Warne and Labor senator Kimberley Kitching.

He had claimed, without evidence, that the two had died from heart attacks that were linked to the virus.

“It’s too much of a coincidence that Shane Warne and the Labor senator in Victoria died not long after a Covid infection,” he said on ABC News Breakfast.

“People are reporting sudden death after Covid infection. It’s not benign.”

Senator Kitching died of a suspected heart attack in March of that year and had been receiving treatment for a thyroid condition that’s believed to be linked to her death.

Whether Senator Kitching had contracted Covid-19 had not been reported before her death, and the heart attack she suffered has not been linked to the virus.

Warne’s death from a suspected heart attack, six days after Senator Kitching’s, has also not been linked to Covid-19.

ABC News Breakfast issued an on-air correction and apology over Dr Swan’s claims.

“We just want to mention Dr Norman Swan has issued an apology after suggesting there may be a Covid link to the deaths of Labor senator Kimberley Kitching and cricket great Shane Warne,” an ABC host said.

Dr Swan told the Nine newspapers that he had spoken to Senator Kitching’s widower Andrew Landeryou and apologised however stood by his claims about Warne.

“If (Warne) was going to get a bit of extra inflammation from Covid, that could’ve tipped him over the edge,” he said.

Originally published as ‘King of Covid’ Norman Swan weds for a third time