DOMINIC Cummings is self-isolating at home after suffering symptoms of coronavirus.
The Prime Minister’s controversial top aide is the latest senior Westminster figure to fall ill.
Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, tested positive for Covid-19 at the end of last week and are currently self-isolating.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack and the chief medical officer for England, Sir Chris Whitty, are in the same position as those other top UK Government figures. Jack was filmed standing just feet away from Johnson in the Commons last Wednesday.
Cummings was seen running out of Number 10 around lunchtime on Friday shortly before Johnson and Hancock announced their diagnoses.
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The Prime Minister’s adviser is said to have been particularly cautious in recent weeks in order to prevent himself from contracting the coronavirus, including avoiding the London Underground, according to Sky News.
Cummings is believed to have chaired many of the key meetings held lately as the UK tries to fight the spread of Covid-19.
According to a recent report, published by the Sunday Times, it was Cummings who had initially argued against strict measures to contain the coronavirus in a view summarised as “if that means some pensioners die, too bad”. A Downing Street spokesman later said the claims about Cummings’ viewpoint had not been put to Number 10 in advance and contained “invented” quotes.
While the phrase “herd immunity” was used by Government figures such as Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, Number 10 denied it was ever a tactic.
Johnson, 55, experienced mild symptoms on Thursday, a day after he answered at the Prime Minister’s weekly question-and-answer session in the Commons, and received the positive test result around midnight.
A Number 10 source said Cummings began to feel ill over the weekend, but remains “in contact” with the Downing Street operation.
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