Science buff became a dove on Covid after becoming ill

THERE is no doubt that, like the Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings changed his view of the pandemic after apparently being struck down by coronavirus in March.

Although he always vehemently denied reports suggesting he initially favoured a “herd immunity” approach, he certainly became more “doveish” after suffering Covid symptoms including a serious fever and bad headache.

He took particular objection to a Sunday Times article that suggested that he told a Covid meeting in February that the economy should be protected at all costs, adding: “If that means some pensioners die, then too bad.”

The report s uggested t hat he changed his mind on March 12 when he saw Imperial College London data predicting that if no action was taken, more than half a million people would die.

Mr Cummings was so angry he ordered Downing Street’s communications department to issue a swift rebuttal of t he “hi ghly def a matory fabrication” and refused to have any further dealings with the newspaper.

An insider said at the time that Mr Cummings feared he was being portrayed as “some sort of Dr Mengele figure”, a reference to the Nazi “Angel of Death” who brutalised concentration camp prisoners.

In reality, Mr Cummings ended up being one of the fiercest advocates for locking down huge swathes of the country on the advice of the Government’s scientific advisers, leading to speculation he was behind the leaking of the second lockdown.

Along with Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, for whom he worked at the Department for Education from 2011 to 2014, Mr Cummings grew concerned that the Government would be accused of “killing” people if it didn’t take the most cautious approach.

The science buff is also thought to be an admirer of South Korea’s highly automated test, track and trace system, which tests 100 people for every positive case.