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Newspaper headlines: Hospital 'crisis' and police 'get tough' on fines

By BBC News
Staff

Published
image caption"Doctors raise alarm as Covid strikes down NHS workforce" leads the Observer. The paper cites a letter from the chair of the British Medical Association, which has warned there are more than 46,000 hospital staff off sick with the virus. The staff absences are "heaping additional pressure on an already overstretched workforce struggling to manage even current critical care demand", Chaand Nagpaul said. The vaccination programme is reportedly being impacted by healthcare workers falling ill. Dr Nagpaul said doctors and other health workers needed to be vaccinated as soon as possible. More than 80,000 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive Covid death, figures released on Saturday show.
image captionEngland's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty has written in the Sunday Telegraph to warn that emergency patients will be turned away from hospitals if people do not abide by coronavirus restrictions. "Every unnecessary interaction you have could be the link in a chain of transmission which has a vulnerable person at the end," he has written. The NHS is at risk of becoming overwhelmed within two weeks, he added.
image captionThe Sunday Telegraph reports that police officers have been told to fine people in breach of Covid rules £200 if they refuse to go home after the first time of asking. The paper says new guidance given to all chief constables marks a "significant hardening" in policing England's third national lockdown. A Home Office insider is quoted as telling the paper: "If there was a gunman who killed 1,000 people yesterday running around the country and the government said 'stay at home', everyone would say, 'OK I'll do that, I won't go for a coffee with some friends and walk around the park.'" Meanwhile, NHS hospitals are treating fewer than half of the cancer patients they normally would, the paper reports, as doctors prioritise those with the virus.
image captionThe Sunday People carries a plea from NHS nurse Ameera Sheikh who has urged people to follow the rules. "Death is all around us" is the headline.
image captionDominating the front of the Sunday Express is a photo of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh who have received their Covid-19 vaccinations. They were vaccinated at Windsor Castle. More than 1.5 million Britons have been given the vaccine, the paper adds.
image caption"A shot in the ma'am" is the Sunday Mirror's take on the Queen and Prince Philip receiving their vaccines. The move, the paper says, "sends a clear message to anti-vaxxers". The paper quotes a source who said they went public "to prevent further speculation".
image captionThe Mail on Sunday says the royal couple received their first jab only when it became available to others in Berkshire "to avoid any suggestion of special treatment". The same will be applied to the second injection, according to the paper. It has not been revealed whether they received the Oxford or the Pfizer vaccine.
image captionElsewhere, the Daily Star Sunday says a special forces unit has been trained to respond to any alien attacks.

In Sunday's papers, there is a renewed focus on lockdown compliance.

In what the Sunday Times describes as an intervention "designed to shock", England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty tells the paper that emergency patients will be turned away from hospitals unless people begin to obey the rules.

"When will they realise what's really going on?" asks an intensive care nurse, expressing her anger at anti-lockdown protesters in the Sunday People.

Ameera Sheikh says demonstrators - who will never have to zip up a body bag - need to realise the "world doesn't revolve around them".

The Sunday Telegraph says every police officer has been told to issue a £200 fine to people breaching Covid rules if they refuse to return home at the first time of asking.

The paper says ministers are "dramatically increasing enforcement" in a bid to stave off calls from scientists for tougher restrictions.

A Home Office insider is quoted saying that if there had been 1,000 on Saturday caused by a gunman "running around the country", people would stay at home.

image copyrightPA Media

"Doctors raise alarm as Covid strikes down NHS workforce," is the main headline in the Observer.

According to the British Medical Association, there are more than 46,000 hospital staff currently off sick with Covid-19.

The paper says absences at GP surgeries and care homes across the country are also "abnormally high".

There is a warning from the Royal College of General Practitioners that this will further affect the health service's ability to hit the target of dispensing two million doses of the vaccine every week.

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Several of the tabloids lead on the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh receiving their coronavirus vaccinations at Windsor Castle.

"A shot in the ma'am," is the Sunday Mirror's main headline.

What the Mail on Sunday describe as "well-placed sources" tell the paper it is "reasonable" to assume that the royals were given the Oxford AstraZeneca jab, rather than the Pfizer vaccine.

The paper says they waited until the vaccine was being rolled out across Berkshire to avoid any suggestion of special treatment.

The Sunday Express says their decision to go public will likely lead to many more people wanting to get inoculated.

image copyrightPA Media
image captionQueen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh received the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday

The Sun on Sunday reports that Home Secretary Priti Patel has set up a new command headquarters to "sharpen action" against illegal migrants attempting to cross the Channel.

The police, border guards and drone operators will all work together at a secret hub in Dover.

They are due to embark on what the Sun calls a "land, sea and air blitz" by deploying radar and surveillance gadgets to disrupt traffickers.

Meanwhile, Chorley Town are the toast of many back pages following their FA Cup victory over Derby County.

The Daily Star Sunday calls it an "Adele of a win" - a reference to the players' renditions of the singer's hit Someone Like You after each victory.

"Silence of the Rams," is the Sunday Mirror's assessment.

The Sunday Telegraph says Derby's reliance on a youth team - because of a Covid outbreak - played right into Chorley's hands because their manager is a head teacher and knows "exactly how to subdue a bunch of schoolboys".