He was told by doctors that he had double pneumonia and Covid, and would be taken to ICU and put on a ventilator. “I said that won’t be happening and I went home,’’ he said, where a local team of four doctors took instructions from the US specialists on how to treat the billionaire.

His senior staff had been in touch with controversial gastroenterologist, professor Thomas Borody, who organised the US specialists to intervene. The US specialists, a couple of whom treated Trump for Covid, were very strong about not going onto a ventilator,’’ he said. “I’ve been told that without the anti-viral intervention on that Sunday night I would likely have been dead within five hours.’’

“I started to come good within 10 hours,’’ he said. “I would have died otherwise, without doubt,’’ Mr Palmer said.

The US-based team used Zoom calls with Australian doctors to monitor his progress, and they fast-tracked Mr Palmer onto a US drug trial to administer the life-saving dosage of anti-virals. Two of the anti-viral drugs included the controversial agents, ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.