Wednesday, October 23

Boris Johnson requested if blowing hairdryer up nostril may ‘kill COVID’, Cummings claims

Boris Johnson requested his most senior scientific advisers if blowing a “special hair dryer” up your nostril may kill COVID, in line with Dominic Cummings.

Mr Cummings’s full proof assertion to the COVID inquiry has been revealed, following his blockbuster in-person grilling on Tuesday.

In the doc, which runs for greater than 100 pages, Mr Johnson‘s former chief of workers – who has since change into a vocal critic of the previous prime minister – outlines various uncomplimentary eventualities which he says occurred on the high of presidency.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Lemonheads Barber shop during a visit to Lemon Street Market in Truro, Cornwall to see how they are preparing to reopen ahead of Step 2 of the roadmap on Monday 12 April. Picture date: Wednesday April 7, 2021.
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The then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a barber store in April 2021

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Mr Cummings wrote: “A low point was when he circulated a video of a guy blowing a special hair dryer up his nose ‘to kill COVID’ and asked [Sir Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance] what they thought.”

The video has since been faraway from YouTube, in line with Mr Cummings.

Mr Cummings additionally claims that, inside Downing Street, there was uncertainty about whether or not the prime minister himself was “the source of false stories”.

The former adviser raises a narrative that claimed the federal government “had brought in masks because of focus groups even though we knew they didn’t work.”

This was “the opposite of the truth”, in line with Mr Cummings.

Read extra:
Key WhatsApp messages from the COVID inquiry
Johnson: COVID was ‘nature’s approach of coping with outdated individuals’

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Cummings says PM was often called a ‘trolley’

Mr Cummings recounts how, in autumn 2020, Mr Johnson was “sick of COVID” and needed it “off the front pages”.

He additionally claimed Mr Johnson requested him to provide you with a “dead cat” technique – through which a distracting story is utilized in an try to change the main target of journalists.

The adviser, who labored with Mr Johnson on the Brexit marketing campaign, says he instructed the prime minister “no campaign could ‘dead-cat COVID”.

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Mr Cummings additionally advised that Mr Johnson was distracted throughout the early section of the pandemic.

His assertion stated: “He had a divorce to finalise and was grappling with financial problems from that plus his girlfriend’s spending plans for the No 10 flat (which he raised repeatedly from early January).

“An ex-girlfriend was making accusations about him within the media.

“His current girlfriend wanted to finalise the announcement of their engagement.

“He stated he needed to work on his Shakespeare guide.”

The inquiry also heard today how Number 10 was “unbelievably bullish” in 2020 before the full effects of the pandemic were felt in Britain – with some senior figures allegedly “laughing” at the severity of the situation in Italy.

Italy was among the European countries first hit by the virus – leading to shocking scenes in the north of the country, as Sky News reported on the time.

Content Source: information.sky.com