"It was late January and I was running a study into the respiratory effects of bushfire smoke, and I rang [deputy chief medical officer] Paul Kelly for advice on the bushfires," Dr Coatsworth said.

"At the end of the talk, he asked me 'what do you think of this new virus in China?'"

In the months since that phone call, Dr Coatsworth has become one of the most recognised medical faces in the nation, helping lead the country's health response to COVID-19 as deputy chief medical officer.

Now the infectious diseases expert has started a new role, a position that has led him back to his previous workplace at Canberra Hospital.

Dr Coatsworth will serve as executive director of medical services for Canberra Health Services, a role he started in last week.

While there are still COVID-19 cases in Australia and restrictions in place in multiple states, Dr Coatsworth said his appointment to the role as deputy chief medical officer earlier this year at the height of the pandemic, was always intended to be a temporary one.

"I was seconded over to the federal department of health from my previous position as a unit director of infectious diseases at ACT Health," he said.

"But it was always the intent that it would be a time-limited thing, and also the CHS chief executive was also very keen to have me back.

"Six months, I hope, was long enough to make a decent contribution to the national response."

Under his new role at Canberra Hospital, Dr Coatsworth will be in charge of pathology and medical imaging at the hospital, along with the GP liaison unit and other services.

"I still intend to have a clinical role at the hospital," he said.

"I've been a public hospital doctor since 2001 when I graduated and [hospitals] are such complicated beats.

"It's quite a different role but I am excited to start this one."

During the height of the pandemic, Dr Coatsworth was an almost daily presence on television screens, providing information about the spread of coronavirus as life changed.

In a matter of days, the infectious diseases expert had gone from another doctor at Canberra Hospital to one of Australia's most recognised faces and a trending topic on Twitter.

"It was quite surreal at times, particularly the press conferences. It's something that doctors are not used to, having different questions fired at them, and that was something," he said.

While the challenges surrounding coronavirus and the health response to the pandemic were daunting, Dr Coatsworth said his first response upon being appointed to the deputy chief medical officer role in March wasn't one of fear or anxiety.

In fact, it was quite the opposite.

"When I first got there on March 23 to the national incident room, before the public was getting into the process of social distancing, the place was a hive of activity," he said.

"When I went in there on day one, the first thing I felt was confidence. There were so many people working on [the response] within the public service within DFAT and Prime Minister and Cabinet."

It was that sense of confidence in the response to helping to manage the spread of the virus within the community that helped to inform Dr Coatsworth's daily appearances in front of the cameras.

"That confidence was not out there entirely in the community, there was still a lot of concern," Dr Coatsworth said.

"But I felt at the time one of things I could do was help translate that confidence that I was feeling in the response into the public."

Coronavirus was not the first new disease outbreak Dr Coatsworth had helped to manage, helping form part of Australia's plans to tackle Ebola in the event it reached our shores.

In addition, he had also worked as part of medical responses to epidemics as part of Australian medical assistance teams and Médecins Sans Frontières.

He said early planning was essential in managing Australia's coronavirus response, despite there being some decisions like lockdowns and closed international borders that were never initially anticipated.

While his new job may be a change of pace, Dr Coatsworth said he was up for the challenge.

"I thought about staying [as deputy chief medical officer, but I'm also 42, and I still want to be involved in the places I enjoy giving health care, which is hospitals, and that is not possible in the federal health department," he said.