Ex-Johnson aide lambasts UK government over COVID failures

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s former chief aide lashed out Wednesday at the government he once served, saying people died “in horrific circumstances” because of authorities' failed response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dominic Cummings told lawmakers investigating Britain’s pandemic response that officials including the prime minister went on vacation as the virus swept toward the U.K. in early 2020 and describing scenes of chaos in government as “like an out of-control movie.”

Cummings said Johnson initially regarded the pandemic as “just a scare story. He described it as the new swine flu.”

He said the government “was not operating on a war footing” early in the pandemic. “Lots of people were literally skiing.”

“The truth is that senior ministers, senior officials, senior advisers like me, disastrously short of the standards that the public has a right to expect of its government in a crisis like this,” Cummings said.

“When the public needed us most, the government failed," he said.

“People did not get the treatment they deserved. Many people were left to die in horrific circumstances," he added.

The U.K. has recorded almost 128,000 coronavirus deaths, the highest toll in Europe, and experienced one of the world's deepest recessions as three successive lockdowns hobbled the economy.

A mass vaccination campaign that started in December has brought infections and fatalities down sharply, but the government acknowledges it will have to answer serious questions about its handling of the virus at a future public inquiry.

Cummings’ testimony to Parliament's science and health committees gave a taste of what might come out. Parliamentary committee sessions are often dry affairs, but Cummings’ dramatic...